Children's book series: a girl is unique in that she can bond with all animals, can use their powers

Question

I remember reading a series of children's (or possibly young-adult) books some time between 2000 and 2010, about a girl (I think) who was able to commune with animals somehow. She was able to use their powers in the form of conceptualised weapons, although the use of such a weapon often didn't bear any real resemblance to the physical weapon it was named after. For example, I think the "sword" was a way of combining the power of lots of creatures together to do something - I think she used it to heal an animal. Other named weapons were the hauberk (or possibly halberd - I had only a vague notion of what these words meant when I read the books) and (I think) the shield, although I forget what they did.

The girl in question has some natural affinity with animals. Over the course of the first book she learns that people exist who are capable of bonding with one particular kind of animal and gaining some of the powers of that animal; but she is special in that she can bond with any animal, and she learns to use this power over the course of the book. She learns that others like her used to exist, but she is the only one known at the time of the first book. I think some of the animals involved might be mythical.

In one of the later books, there was something to do with a wind farm, and I remember a scene where it's mentioned that the wind turbines were spinning very fast in a catastrophic storm. There was definitely a kraken at some point in the series.

I was in the UK, and I suspect the books were UK in origin. I want to say that the girl's name was Meg, but I'm only about 5% confident on that.

Answer 1

Could this be Julia Golding's The Companions Quartet? The main character is a girl called Connie; she's always had the ability to communicate with animals, and it turns out in the first book she's what is known as a Universal Companion from The Society for the Protection of Mythical Creatures. Some people are recognised as having a particular bond with a specific animal, and furthermore some bond to mythical animals (sirens, pegasi, etc.) and join this society. Connie is the first person in a century who can bond to all animals, mythical or otherwise. The kraken shows up towards the end of the first book, Secret of the Sirens.

Answer 2

Could this be The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip? It is about a young woman named Sybel (not Meg) who can communicate telepathically with animals, many of whom are mythic, and enlist them to use their abilities. Other characters can sometimes communicate with beasts, but are not always appreciative or perceptive of the wisdom in their words. For example, one character asks a beast for all the wisdom in he world, and the beast points at a nearby stone, and the character goes away dissatisfied.

The book is a one-off, and not part of a series, though.