I'm trying to remember the actual genre name and coming up blank. It's basically anthropomorphic animals living in the countryside. They go on adventures, but it's also very cozy and domestic. They may or may not live in a society with humans, but they do wear clothes and act more human than animal.
One thing I love about The Wind in the Willows but might not be a mark of the genre is that there's an odd, ambiguous, tenuous peace between humans and animals. Toad in particular is very much a part of human society. He gets thrown into human jail and masquerades as a human washerwoman. But at the same time, the animals in the wild wood are afraid of hunters. Mole meets the god Pan, which taps into his primal side. And if I recall correctly, Badger and Ratty both sort of scoff at Men.
Other examples I can think of along these lines:
– Windmill Hill by Hope Slaughter Bryant (read a long time ago)
– Peter Rabbit
– Winnie the Pooh
– The Chronicles of Narnia
– Dimension 20: Mice and Murder (not a book but an actual-play TTRPG)
– Over the Garden Wall plays with this a bit, with the frog society
Books that may or may not fit this:
– Redwall
– Watership Down
I haven't read either yet, but I get the impression they're darker and more serious.
by battybatt