Strange Animals

An ordinary man discovers a hidden world of supernatural creatures--and an unexpected home--in this enchanting contemporary fantasy debut.

"Unique, haunting, riveting, and beautifully magical."--Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop

"Anderson has conceived of such a rich world, and such a textured mythology. I can't remember a time when cryptids felt more . . . real."--Justin McElroy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Adventure Zone series

Green trips on the curb, falls flat into the street, and sees the city bus speeding toward him. And then . . . blink. He's back on the curb, miraculously still alive. A five-foot-tall crow watches him from atop a nearby sign, somehow unseen by the rushing crowd of morning commuters.

Desperate for answers and beset by more visions of impossible creatures, Green finds his way to a remote campsite in the Appalachian Mountains, where he meets a centuries-old teacher and begins an apprenticeship unlike anything he could imagine.

Under his new mentor's grouchy tutelage, Green studies the time-bending rag moth, the glass fawn, and the menacing horned wolf. He begins to see past hidden nature's terrors and glimpse its beauty, all while befriending fellow misfits--and finding connection and community.

Along the way come clues about the forces that set him on this path--and, most incredibly, a sense of purpose and fulfillment like nothing he's felt before.

But Green's new happiness promises to be short-lived, because alongside these marvels lurks a deadly threat to this place he's already come to love.

Creepy, cozy, and beautiful, Strange Animals is a fantasy about home, belonging, and the fearfully wonderous nature all around us.

Author: Jarod K. Anderson
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 02/10/2026
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 9.41h x 6.11w x 1.11d
ISBN: 9798217092468


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 01/01/2026
Publishers Weekly 12/15/2025
Library Journal 01/01/2026 pg. 40

About the Author
Jarod K. Anderson is a strange mix of fantasy nerd, nature writer, podcaster, poet, and erstwhile academic. He once accidentally picked up a rattlesnake and has slept in the branches of a maple tree more than most writers. He created and voices The CryptoNaturalist, a podcast about real love for imaginary nature, and has published three books of poetry as well as a memoir about his lifelong struggle with depression and the healing power of the natural world. He has an MA in early modern English literature and insists he's more fun than that makes him sound. He lives with his wife and son in a little white house tucked between a park and a cemetery.