From Beatrix Potter to Redwall, Wind in the Willows and Jill Barklem's Brambly Hedge, among others, the British appear to be the most accomplished experts on writing fictional accounts of rodents.

Watership Down is in that category, but at 400+ pages, it's not something most children are likely to pick up. It's the story of a journey, and of survival, with plenty of heart and endearing characters.

The story follows an intrepid band of rabbits who leave their home after Fiver, an eccentric (but accurate) rabbit foretells disaster to their current warren. On the way, they encounter many obstacles and set-backs, but finally arrive at Watership Down, which they decide to make their new home. Once there, however, they realize they won't last long as a colony without females, and thus begins a new phase of adventure as they decide they must find a way to infiltrate the other warren in the area -- the one that is run under the iron paw of the ruthless General Woundwort.

While the rabbits in this story are anthropomorphized to a point, as in they do speak to each other, Richard Adams did not simply stick human personalities onto rabbits. I get the impression that he has spent an awful lot of time observing and pondering these creatures, and so the characters he created are relatable and yet feel more rabbity than human. He gives them their own folk heroes and folk tales, and you have to wonder whether rabbits really are like this if you could just speak their language.

Scrounged From: PaperbackSwap.com

Format: Paperback
Author: Richard Adams
Pages: 476
Content Advisory: Lots of peril, and several scenes of fighting and other violence, including some descriptions of injury and death. 

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Book Scrounger's note: The following is a guest review by Doug, a.k.a. Professor Puzzler.

Little Beaver and the Echo is a wonderful picture book that tells the story of a lonely little beaver who -- while crying about how lonely he is -- hears a voice from across the pond crying about the same thing. Surprised, he sets off in his canoe to see if he can find that lonely little animal on the other side of the pond.

Along the way he makes new friends, and learns that the creature on the other side of the pond has also made new friends. It's a wonderful story about the simplicity with which friendships can be discovered, formed, and cultivated.

My children enjoy the story, and I love the combination of text and beautiful artwork.

This fall I took my 4-year-old son to a "kinderkonzert" -- a concert for children. We chose to go specifically because the concert was going to involve the telling of the story of Little Beaver and the Echo. What I didn't know was that the author, Amy MacDonald, was going to be present, and would be narrating the story herself. That was a wonderful surprise.

After the concert, my son and I spoke with her for a few minutes, and told her how much we enjoyed her book. I said, "And it's not just the story -- you had a wonderful illustrator to work with for this book!" 

Her response: "Yes, I consider myself quite blessed in the choice of illustrators."

Blessed indeed. The combination of text and illustrations is delightful. I just found out, while writing this review, that there is a sequel to this book: Little Beaver and the Big Front Tooth, with the same illustrator!

Scrounged From: A gift to our two-year-old

Format: Paperback
Author: Amy MacDonald
Illustrator: Sarah Fox-Davies
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None

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