The Animals of Farthing Wood

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Ok, so I wasn't intending to listen to this as this was on my wife's kindle, but the most recent renovation work on our house meant we were in the same room working, so I listened. She is last seen at the end of the episode watching her mate walk off to explore the new part of the park with Trey. The animals make a pact to protect each other, predators and prey alike. As the animals make their journey to White Deer Park, they encounter various obstacles that endanger their lives such as fires, hunters and other predators. Wise Old Owl was meant to come across as an insufferable know-it-all, but the book was trying to play off that Badger knew what was best for everyone.

The adventure follows a group of animals who are forced from their home after humans start destroying their woods, with numerous hurdles the band of friends travel across the country to find protection at the White Deer Park nature reserve.I also enjoyed the message that went with every animals uniqueness: we all have a place and a part to play in life; no matter how small or large; weak or strong. I appreciated the way Dann did not shy away from adressing the realities of life: death, suffering, hardship and hunger; but met these topics head on, with hope intertwined.

The animals reach a motorway and are able to cross one side without any problems, but the other side is much busier and would be much more difficult to cross. Whistler carries the smaller and lighter animals across the road and most of the other animals cross safely, but two of the older hedgehogs are too slow and perish under the wheels of a lorry. The rest of the group walks through some poisoned farm fields and come across a naturalist as they rest in an orchard. Next they travel through a town and rest in a church to escape a heavy storm, but the hole through which they entered is filled in and a wedding party arrives, causing pandemonium as the animals rush to escape. They all escape the church, but some of the slower animals are left behind and have to be fetched by Whistler. This one is pure nostalgia driven, I spotted this in a charity shop a while ago and grabbed it like my life depended on it. The Animals of Farthing Wood were such a big part of my early childhood, I watched the TV series on CBBC, had the kids book collection, one of which is also pictured, and still have the annuals that came out at the time. I loved The Animals of Farthing Wood so when I saw I had to get the book it was all based on. The story telling also had a nice rhythm with noticable ebbs and flows. A period of intense adventure and action would be followed by one of peace and tranquility and so on, creating interest and enjoyment. Dann's words often painted vivid and effortless pictures in my mind.And I'm glad I did, a fun, allegorical and well read audiobook. I must admit I started just vaguely listening, but as their adventures increased I was hooked and if I had to leave the room, I was asking my wife to pause so I didn't miss anything. The moral of this story is that humans are taking up all of the land and leaving nothing for our wildlife. The message was well intended, but too much made about human fellows and less about the animals. A gripping, exciting and emotional story where the Animals of Farthing Wood must leave their home because of humans destroying the land to build houses. Toad reveals he knows a nature reserve where they can all go and live safely from human intervention and so the animals make an oath to protect one another on the dangerous journey to the nature reserve White Deer Park. The story follows a group of animals, led by Fox, as they make the decision to leave their home behind. People are bulldozing Farthing Wood to make room for new houses and Toad has just returned with news of a nature reserve where the group can live without fear. I also loved how Fox saw something positive emerge from a negative event. This showed his maturity and his spiritual eye was open; noticing how, 'All works for good...'

The book follows the Farthing Wood animals on their journey to White Deer Park. It was originally meant to be a stand alone book, with the animals reaching White Deer Park at the end. The success of the book led to a further six novels detailing the adventures of the animals once they reached White Deer Park, and a prequel showing how Farthing Wood came to be destroyed.She has a larger role in season 2 than in season 1, they begin having the safety of the cubs threatened with the cold winter, and Scarface beginning to kill their friends, beginning with Mrs Vole and Mrs Hare. I was obsessed with the animated series which led me to the books, it’s probably the reason why I like to read and compare my favourite film and tv shows now.