A review by readingrobin
The Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

As far as animal survival fiction goes, it's passable. I feel like I've read others that went a bit deeper with their ideas, like Watership Down or Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. I feel like though our characters so through many trials, adversities, and peril, they stay relatively static. There's a sickly sweetness to them where most feel like plush toys rather than actual animals. I know it's probably meant to emit a sense of a strong community where everyone looks out for each other, but one would think there would be more contention as the dangerous pile up. I feel like so many animals were interchangeable mainly due to how there weren't many diverse personalities.

The pace is positively sluggish to the point where I wanted to put the story down and not look back, but somehow I just kept reading. It honors its conservationist message and highlights the human threats against wildlife well, but I'm not sure if today's children will have much interest in the presentation of these issues.