Poppy, a deer mouse, lives on the edge of Dimwood forest with her parents and many siblings and relatives. Their area is controlled by a great horned owl called Mr Ocax. Poppy has met another mouse from far away named Ragweed. He is a golden mouse. Ragweed has convinced Poppy they do not need to ask permission from Mr Ocax to climb Bannock Hill. Ragweed will not listen to Poppy and just as the pair step out to dance:
"Just then, Mr Ocax pulled his wings close to his body and plunged. In an instant he was right above and behind the two mice. Once there, he threw out his wings ... thrust out his claws forward and side like grappling hooks - to pounce. ... Down came his left claw. ... clamping around Ragweed's head and neck like a wise of needles, killing him instantly"
Sorry I had to share this graphic scene. Poppy is devastated. She heads back to her family only to hear her father telling everyone that they all now need to move because they are running out of food and the family just keeps growing. Her father Lungwort and her mother Sweet Cecily decide Poppy will accompany Lungwort when he goes to talk to Mr Ocax. Poppy is sure the dangerous owl will recognise her but she has no choice. Lungwort has carefully prepared a speech to explain why the family all need to move to New House. Mr Ocax can hardly believe his ears. There is NO way he will allow the mice to move. That's it - no more discussion. Poppy and father head home but Poppy is suspicious.
"Slowly but clearly it came back. When Lungwort asked the question, Mr Ocax because flustered. He seemed unsure about something connected with New House. ... Was it possible that there was something there - at New House - that Mr Ocax wanted to keep hidden from them. Was that the real reason for his refusal?"
There is also the story Mr Ocax has told all the mice about dangerous porcupines. The Poppy meets Ereth. He is a sharp tongued, straight talking porcupine. I love his manner of speech. He is shocked at the propaganda and lies of Mr Ocax and, even though he seems very grumpy, he actually has a heart of gold and a soft spot for young Poppy. He agrees to help her.
"Who's the world class idiot who told you that porcupines eat mice? ... Ocax! ... The great hored owl? Him? ... Poppy he's the one who eats mice! And if there's one thing that jerk of an owl is frightened of, it's me."
Poppy is a book I have often referred to here on this blog but recently I realised I had not talked about it even though I began reading this series back in 1995. I loved revisiting these books over the last week and still highly recommend this series especially as a family read aloud. The first book does have a very satisfying ending but it also offers the possibility of more adventures to come.
Very luckily the library I visit each week has the whole set so I borrowed Poppy - which is the first book and Poppy and Rye - the second book. This series does have a prequel titled Ragweed but I think the best thing to do is to read the four books from the series then go back and read Ragweed. This photo shows two extra books that I have not seen - Poppy and Ereth and Ragweed and Poppy.
In this video Avi talks about the Poppy series. Read some review comments about Poppy here.
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