r/AnimalBooks

This is my most favorite animal book ever! I'm a late fan, but the books were very popular when it first came out. It sold in the millions. Each book blew my mind away, especially Dark Wing and Sun Wing. It's still unique to this very day!

Silver Wing and Sun Wing is about a bat named Shade. He get separated from his flock and meet other bats, both good and bad. Shade is not your average bat because he's the only bat with power. Nothing too crazy, but still impressive.

Fire Wing is the 3rd book in the trilogy and it's about a bat named Griffin that fell through a hole into an underworld of bats, but the story get deeper than that. It has a dark tone, but it's not actually frightening.

Dark Wing is the prequel and it's about a bat named Dusk. It's set 65 million years ago in the past, and it's right after the extinction of dinosaurs. The laws of the jungle changed because there's no more dinosaurs, but it didn't made the jungle any safer. It's also about the first bat that learned how to fly. This book has the most world building, and it really brought the jungle to life during the Cenozoic Era.

This book is a hidden gem even among animal fantasy books. It's about an outdoor mice name Pedlar who journey inside a house, and discovered a world full of mouse tribes. Each tribe have their own custom and beliefs. There are humans, two cats, and a dog living in the house, but they're very side characters. The story has an adult theme with some dark scenes, but I could still picture the story in my head like a 90s cartoon movie. It has good pacing and ton of action.

I have an upcoming Kickstarter for some illustration prints inspired by good stories and whimsical tales (tails?), and have been creating coloring pages to go with that. I thought you all might enjoy this one!

Hi everyone! As I wait for the manuscript edit to come back, my illustrator and I have been working on the all-important book cover. One of the core principles for Capyhero is to have everything be hand made and give absolutely no chance of ai generated writing or art. Nick (the project's illustrator) is a traditional artist and is doing all of Capyhero's 100+ illustrations in fountain ink. In that vein, I’d also like the book cover to be traditionally painted.

We've been brushing up on painting skills as we plan the book cover. Here's a practice piece (gouache paint) of Jake, the Piper, a minor character from the book.

I’m loving the natural brush strokes and handling of lighting and fur rendering. It’s been great to see this and imagine our main protagonist, Capy, receiving similar treatment for the cover as well.

How do folks here feel about traditionally painted book covers versus the much more common digitally illustrated covers these days? I'm trying to evoke that Redwall nostalgia with Capyhero. Do people still like that, or would it not stand out enough against the slew of super vibrant book covers these days? If you see a book at a bookstore with a cover like this, would it not grab attention enough because the books next to it are "louder"?

And what do fans of animal books think of this practice piece?

Thanks for reading!