Breathe To Read

Breathe To Read

Thursday, August 11, 2016

2016 Challenge - Book 51 - Watership Down

Today's book I am going to review is

Watership Down



This was under the category:  A Book About an Animal

This book takes place in one of England's Downs called Watership.  It is a story about a group of rabbits to decide to leave their Warren due to some foreseen danger predicted by one of the rabbits.  This rabbit has been known to be a bit of a seer, so his closest friends believe him and leave the Warren together.  They set out to find a place to settle down.  They meet several rabbits and other creatures along the way - some who become friends, and others who become enemies.  A few rabbits don't make it to their final home, but most do.

Once settled, they start to realize they will need does to form a complete Warren.  (the band of rabbits that traveled were all male).  They use the help of a new friend - a bird - to search out warrens near by for does.  They then take their bravest rabbits to visit the warren to see if they can encourage some of their does to follow them to their new Warren.

The rabbits overcome impossible odds to settle a new Warren and begin a new life.  The guidance of their leader, Hazel, makes it possible.

I enjoyed this book.  It was a slow start, I have to admit.  But as I got into it, I become more and more involved in the stories of the main characters, willing them to live through every battle, and every mission.  When one of the main rabbits seemed to be doomed for good, I worried what would happen to the morale of the whole group.  They had come so far together, and there were so few of them from the original Warren.

The book has a whole language thought up by the author, which after awhile I started thinking about in my every day life.  He has a glossary of terms in the back of the book, which was nice for when you forgot what one of the "rabbit language" words meant.

This is a mature book - definitely suited more for middle school students, but children ages 13 and over would enjoy the story.    I say give it a try.  The battle scenes went on a little long in my opinion, but don't let those get in the way of enjoying the overall story of this book

Stars: 4

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