Poppy (novel)
Book cover
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| Author | Avi |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Brian Floca |
| Series | The Tales Of Dimwood Forest |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Published |
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| Media type | |
| Pages | 192 |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Ragweed (prequel; 1999) |
| Followed by | Poppy and Rye (1997) |
Poppy is a children's novel written by Avi. The novel was first published in 1995 by Simon & Schuster and again in 1999 by HarperCollins. Poppy is the first-published of Avi's Tales From Dimwood Forest series. Within the narrative sequence of the series, it is the second book. The complete series is composed of Poppy, Poppy and Rye, Ragweed, Ereth's Birthday, Poppy's Return, and Poppy and Ereth.
In the Dimwood region, a large family of mice inhabit an abandoned farmhouse called Gray House. Poppy, a young deer mouse, goes with her boyfriend Ragweed, a golden mouse, to Bannock Hill for a proposal. However, Mr. Ocax, a great horned owl who acts as a tyrannical ruler over the family, tries to catch both of the mice while they are distracted. Ocax only manages to scratch Poppy's nose, but he kills Ragweed, who had daringly been out in the open. Poppy narrowly escapes again when leaving for Gray House.
When Poppy returns to Gray House, she learns that the family must relocate to New House, where there is a more abundant food supply. However, Ocax refuses to give the family permission to move to the area, citing Poppy and Ragweed's refusal to ask his permission to go to Bannock Hill as a reason. His refusal makes Poppy curious, so she decides to travel to New House to ascertain Ocax's reasons. While in Dimwood Forest Poppy eventually stumbles upon Ereth, a porcupine, who, contrary to the stories Ocax told Poppy's family, is surly but overall friendly and does not eat mice. He protects Poppy from when Ocax and reveals he has no title of king. Ereth offers her continued protection from Ocax in exchange for the salt lick at New House that he can't obtain on his own.
Ereth drops Poppy off at the boundaries of New House, and she discovers that Ocax is afraid of a large artificial owl there, which is why he had really refused the mice family permission to move. Armed with a quill she retrieved from Ereth, Poppy later confronts and taunts Ocax about the figure but inadvertently reveals that it is fake. Ocax then attacks Poppy but is eventually defeated when Poppy stabs him with the quill. In a desperate attempt to get rid of it, he slams into the salt lick pole, the impact killing him. Ereth is able to get the salt lick then and Poppy goes home to tell her family they were now free from Ocax and able to move. A few moons later she is now married to a mouse named Rye and they and their litter freely dance on Bannock Hill.
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