6 Books from Unusual Perspectives

Every great story invites us to see the world through someone else’s eyes. But what happens when those eyes aren’t quite what we expect—when the narrator is a goat, a tree, or even an inanimate object? Stories told from unusual perspectives challenge the way we think and feel, offering fresh insight, surprising empathy, and unforgettable voices.

  • Father May Be an Elephant and Mother a Small Basket, But…

    By Gogu Shyamala

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  • The Island of Missing Trees

    By Elif Shafak

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  • Animal Farm

    by George Orwell

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Father May Be an Elephant and Mother a Small Basket, But… - Interconnected stories about the Dalit experience told by children, women and often communal voices

The Island of Missing Trees - Narrated entirely by a fig tree growing in the middle of a Cypriot tavern. Rooted in history, longing, and resilience, the fig tree becomes a voice for nature, memory, and the hidden scars of war.

Animal Farm - A classic political fable told by a group of farm animals standing in for politicians... in this current climate, its worth a reread. The graphic edition is a gem

The Book of Form and Emptiness - partly told by a young boy who hears voices of inanimate objects, the book often intervenes as narrator, commenting on the turn of events in a double layered narrative - super interesting

The Story of a Goat - Told entirely from the point of view of Poonachi, a fragile black goat. Marked by tenderness and hardship—her tale reflects on caste, gender, vulnerability, and the weight of being small in a vast, unjust world

Glory - With a cast of animals, echoing Animal Farm, Glory is a firey political satire inspired by Zimbabwe’s fall of dictatorship