If the poetic cadences and refrains of Kathi Appelt’s swamp tale—the echoing “Stay. Stay.”—pulled you in, you’ll love the musical storytelling of The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Where The Underneath braids bayou myth with Grandmother Moccasin’s ancient grief, Barnhill’s tale sings through Xan, Luna, and the swamp-poet Glerk, weaving wonder and sorrow into sentences that hum. It’s that same lush, incantatory voice wrapped around a story of love, sacrifice, and the fierce pull of home.

In The Underneath, the timelines of Ranger, the calico cat and her kittens, Gar-Face, and the ancient tale of Grandmother Moccasin fold over one another until the past snaps into the present. Grace Lin crafts a similar magic: Minli’s journey is continually refracted through folktales that pause, loop back, and then click into place, much like how the bayou’s old story changes the fates beneath the porch in Appelt’s novel.

If you were moved by the way The Underneath lets you feel the world through Ranger’s nose and the kittens’ fear—right alongside human cruelty in Gar-Face—you’ll be gripped by Pax. The narrative switches between Peter and his fox, each chapter echoing the other’s ache and courage, just as the hound and the cats’ hopes answer each other across the cypress roots and dark water.

Appelt’s bayou is a living presence—the cypress knees, swollen river, cottonmouths, and stormlight all steering Ranger and the kittens toward a hard-won mercy. In The Wild Robot, Roz must attune herself to tides, migrations, and seasons to protect her found family of animals. If the swamp’s ecology in The Underneath felt like a character, this island wilderness will, too.

As Ranger shields the kittens from Gar-Face and the bayou’s dangers, Ivan quietly vows to protect baby Ruby from the neglect of their keeper. Both stories center a loyal, gentle soul who finds bravery through love. The spare, shining prose in Ivan channels the same tender ache you felt beneath the porch in The Underneath.