The Animals of Farthing Wood (book)
First edition, 1979
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| Author | Colin Dann |
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| Illustrator | Jacqueline Tettmar |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Animals of Farthing Wood |
| Genre | Children's, Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Egmont Publishing Hutchinson US |
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Publication date
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12 November 1979 |
| Media type | Print (hard & paperback) |
| Pages | 302 (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | (first edition hardback) 1-4052-2552-1 (paperback UK edition) |
| OCLC | 7141006 |
| Preceded by | None |
| Followed by | In the Grip of Winter |
The Animals of Farthing Wood is the first book of the Animals of Farthing Wood book series, which was later adapted into a TV series of the same name. It was first published in 1979. An abridged version of 70 pages, by the same author, was published in 1993 to accompany the TV series.
The novel begins in the fictional Farthing Wood, which is being destroyed to make way for the building of human homes. The book follows the adventures of a group of animals who choose to leave their home in Farthing Wood and journey to White Deer Park, a fictional nature reserve. They are led by Fox and take an oath not to harm each other during the journey.
The story opens with the animals discovering that their small pond has been filled in. Humans dug up the surrounding heath some time ago, and have reduced the size of Farthing Wood itself since then, so it is now little more than a copse. With the ongoing destruction now a crisis due to a drought, Badger and Fox call an assembly, which all of the wood's inhabitants attend in the hope they can devise a solution.
Unfortunately, as the animals cannot stop the humans, or suggest a long-term solution for the lack of water, they do not progress until Toad appears, having vanished almost a year before. He explains that he was captured by humans and taken far away. He eventually escaped and followed his homing instinct back to Farthing Wood. Near the beginning of his travels, he met a group of frogs whose pond was located in a nature reserve called White Deer Park. With no hope of surviving in the wood, all agree to set out for the reserve with Toad as their guide. Badger nominates Fox as leader, while the birds agree to act as scouts. The smaller animals are wary of travelling with their natural enemies, so Badger insists they all take the Oath of Mutual Protection, in which each animal resolves to put their natural differences and instincts aside to help each other. The animals arrange to meet the following midnight, and set off.
The first phase of the adventure is dogged by danger. The animals cross a housing estate into army land, where the lizards decide to stay, as the marsh will suit them just as well as White Deer Park. However, a fire tears across the landscape, and although the animals initially outrun the blaze, they are later forced into the centre of a lake to evade human firefighters. They leave as a storm breaks, entering nearby farmland. However, when they take cover in an open barn, both pheasants are shot on watch, and the party has to tunnel their way out and escape to a copse. They spend a few days resting before proceeding on.
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