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Quick answer: If you loved White Fang, read Jack London's The Call of the Wild, then Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, then Jean Craighead George's My Side of the Mountain and Julie of the Wolves, and Fred Gipson's Old Yeller and Savage Sam and Sheila Burnford's The Incredible Journey. All are wilderness and animal adventures.
Jack London's 1906 novel follows a wolfdog in the Yukon gold rush. It is a short, tough tale of survival. These picks offer similar wilderness stories.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Ages | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Call of the Wild | Jack London | 12+ | older kids |
| Hatchet | Gary Paulsen | 10-14 | survival fans |
| My Side of the Mountain | Jean Craighead George | 9-13 | nature lovers |
| Julie of the Wolves | Jean Craighead George | 10-13 | nature lovers |
| Old Yeller | Fred Gipson | 10-14 | readers who like frontier stories |
| The Incredible Journey | Sheila Burnford | 9-13 | readers who like journeys |
| Sounder | William H. Armstrong | 10–14 | emotional classics |
| Watership Down | Richard Adams | 10+ | older readers |
| Black Beauty | Anna Sewell | 8-12 | horse lovers |
| Where the Red Fern Grows | Wilson Rawls | 10-14 | readers who want a tearjerker |
| Stone Fox | John Reynolds Gardiner | 8-12 | dog lovers |
| Into the Wild | Jon Krakauer | Adult | readers who want adventure and reflection |
| Robinson Crusoe | Daniel Defoe | 12+ | older readers |
| Savage Sam | Fred Gipson | Ages 10+ | the sequel |
| The Black Stallion | Walter Farley | 9–13 | racing stories |
1. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Buck, a sled dog, is taken to the Yukon and returns to the wild. A short, intense classic.
Best for: older kids.
2. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Brian survives alone in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash. Fast and intense.
Best for: survival fans.
3. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Sam runs away to live in a hollow tree in the Catskills. A classic of self-reliance.
Best for: nature lovers.
4. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
Miyax, an Inuit girl, survives on the Alaskan tundra with help from a wolf pack. A Newbery winner.
Best for: nature lovers.
5. Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
A Texas boy bonds with a stray dog in 1860s frontier life. Moving and sad.
Best for: readers who like frontier stories.
6. The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
Two dogs and a cat travel hundreds of miles across Canada to find their family. A classic.
Best for: readers who like journeys.
7. Sounder by William H. Armstrong
A Black sharecropping family struggles in the South, with a loyal dog at the center. Short and serious.
Best for: emotional classics.
8. Watership Down by Richard Adams
A band of rabbits flees their warren in search of a new home. Epic, vivid and sometimes violent.
Best for: older readers.
9. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
A horse tells his life story in Victorian England. A classic that promoted kindness to animals.
Best for: horse lovers.
10. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Billy trains two hunting dogs in the Ozarks. Emotional and classic.
Best for: readers who want a tearjerker.
11. Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
A boy enters a dog sled race to save his grandfather's farm. Short and moving.
Best for: dog lovers.
12. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
The story of Chris McCandless, who left his life behind to live in the Alaskan wilderness. Thoughtful and tragic.
Best for: readers who want adventure and reflection.
13. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
A shipwrecked man builds a life on an island. The classic survival novel.
Best for: older readers.
14. Savage Sam by Fred Gipson
Travis's younger brother and a new dog face Apache raiders. Exciting and short.
Best for: the sequel.
15. The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
A boy is shipwrecked with a wild black horse and later trains him to race. A classic of horse fiction.
Best for: racing stories.
How We Chose These Books
Every pick is a real, widely available book that shares something specific with White Fang: its tone, its themes, its pace or the kind of characters it puts at the center. We mixed well-known favorites with a few less obvious titles, and we noted who each book suits best so you can match it to the reader. Where a book belongs to a series, we list the first volume so you can start at the beginning.
If you are not sure where to begin, start with the first three picks in the table: they are the closest match to White Fang. The rest of the list moves further out, so it works well once you know which part of the original you liked most.
How to Choose
For another London classic, read The Call of the Wild. For young readers, try Hatchet or My Side of the Mountain. For animal heroes, pick Julie of the Wolves or Old Yeller.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote White Fang?
Jack London, in 1906.
What is it about?
A wolfdog moving from wild to civilization.
Is it a sequel?
It is a companion to The Call of the Wild.
Which book here is best for racing stories?
Try The Black Stallion by Walter Farley, which suits readers looking for racing stories.
Which book here is best for the sequel?
Try Savage Sam by Fred Gipson, which suits readers looking for the sequel.
Which book here is best for older readers?
Try Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, which suits readers looking for older readers.
Which book here is best for readers who want adventure and reflection?
Try Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, which suits readers looking for readers who want adventure and reflection.