I've had this book on my "want to read" list for well over 5 years and am SO GLAD I finally read it! It has a similar feel to Brian Jacques "Redwall" series and Kenneth Grahams "The Wind in the Willows", which are two of my other favorite stories. This book is lyrically written, has some of the most fascinating and lovable characters, and is just flat out engrossing. Somehow it reads like both a folktale and an adventure story, blended together seamlessly.
I read the author's forward and particularly took liking to the fact that he said that "Watership Down was never intended to be some sort of allegory or parable. It is simply the story about rabbits made up and told in the car." The fact that Adams wrote this for the purpose of entertaining his children and not providing some big, hidden narrative just really makes me like this book even more.
Without a doubt I'll be buying my own copy of this and rereading it in the future.
(Also I just want to be honest and say I literally cried like three times while reading this. Yeah, I'm a woman in my twenties crying over fictional rabbits. It be like that sometimes. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ ) ( )

This story about human struggle in an epic quest is disguised as a children’s book about rabbits. In his introduction, author Richard Adams says that this work began as a series of stories he spun for his daughters, but it is far deeper and more complicated than that. Nevertheless, it is certainly still a story for children, at least with some parental guidance. Adams imagines a rabbit language, which he calls lapine, although it is used sparingly, and there is a great emphasis on storytelling throughout. Memorable characters abound, from the visionary Fiver, the wise Hazel, the fearless Bigwig, to the violent General Woundwort, and these rabbits infused with human consciousness and some primal need for heroic stories full of acts of bravery, purpose, and honor. ( )

Independent Reading Level: 4th-5th Grade
Awards: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee (1975), Guardian Children's Fiction Prize (1973), Audie Award Nominee for Best Male Narrator (2020), Boston Globe-Horn Book Award (1975), California Young Readers Medal for Young Adult (1977), Carnegie Medal (1972)

A delightful book, even better the second time around.

This classic tale has something relatable for everyone. While yes the characters are rabbits, the overall tale is one that can easily be applied to people as far as a tale of survival and perseverance.

The story shows the resilience and determination. Sensing danger a brave group dares to set out and build a new home. Just as many refugees, the rabbits have their struggles yet their legends and myths help guide them and by sticking together they succeed.

There are lessons throughout this book that can teach us all something. ( )

Entertaining, but surprisingly gruesome. Hard to believe he wrote this for his daughters given his consistent disparagement of the rabbit does.