Misplaced Pages

#45954

78-505: Guardian Children's Fiction Prize Watership Down is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams , published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Hampshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits . Although they live in their natural wild environment, with burrows , they are anthropomorphised , possessing their own culture, language , proverbs , poetry, and mythology . Evoking epic themes,

156-516: A 2003 survey of the British public, it was voted the forty-second greatest book of all time. The 1993 Puffin Modern Classics edition of the novel contains an afterword by Nicholas Tucker , who wrote that stories such as Watership Down "now fit rather uneasily into the modern world of consideration of both sexes". He contrasted Hazel's sensitivity to Fiver with the "far more mechanical" attitude of

234-451: A Thousand Enemies . In other countries the album was released as Music Inspired by Watership Down . In 1978 Martin Rosen wrote and directed an animated film adaptation of Watership Down . The voice cast included John Hurt , Richard Briers , Harry Andrews , Simon Cadell , Nigel Hawthorne , and Roy Kinnear . The film featured the song " Bright Eyes ", sung by Art Garfunkel . Released as

312-623: A buck from the hutch. Hazel is wounded in the leg by the farmer's shotgun and presumed dead; Fiver's visions prompt him and Blackberry to return and rescue Hazel. When the embassy to Efrafa returns soon after, Hazel and his rabbits learn that Efrafa is a police state run by the ferocious despot General Woundwort, who refuses to allow anyone to leave his warren. Holly and his three companions have managed to escape with little more than their lives. While they were imprisoned in Efrafa, Holly's group had met an Efrafan doe named Hyzenthlay, who wishes to leave

390-471: A changed rabbit, and, after telling the others that Fiver's terrible vision has come true, he offers to join Hazel's band in whatever way they will have him. Although Watership Down is a peaceful habitat, Hazel realizes that, with all buck rabbits and no does, the warren will soon die out. With the help of their useful new friend, a black-headed gull named Kehaar, they discover a nearby warren called Efrafa, which

468-462: A child", with "engaging characters and fast-paced action [that] make it readable." This echoed Nicholas Tucker 's praise for the story's suspense in the New Statesman : "Adams   ... has bravely and successfully resurrected the big picaresque adventure story, with moments of such tension that the helplessly involved reader finds himself checking whether things are going to work out all right on

546-440: A children's list, it is one of the few titles for which the ubiquitous claim of 'crossover' is not a gimmick. It genuinely has equal, though different, appeal to all readers – 15-year-old Christopher Boone's narrative voice is at once childlike in its observations, and adult in its profundity." In 2007, Pullman's Northern Lights was named "Carnegie of Carnegies" for the award's 70-year celebration. The Young Critics competition

624-640: A condemned Efrafan prisoner named Blackavar. Woundwort and his officers pursue them, but the Watership rabbits and the escapees use a punt to float away down the Test and escape. Downriver, the punt strikes a bridge, killing one doe. Once the rabbits are back on shore, they begin the long journey home, losing one more doe to a fox along the way. As they near Watership, they come across Captain Campion and his Efrafan patrol, who have been tracking them. Blackavar advises Hazel that

702-561: A descendant of William Gibbs of Tyntesfield , and of Sir Frederick Wills, 1st Baronet . Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu , the distinguished Bluestocking , who lived at Sandleford Priory from 1742 until her death in 1800 wrote from and mentioned Sandleford in dozens of her of letters. The original home of the rabbits in Richard Adams ' novel Watership Down was at Sandleford. At time of the Domesday survey in 1086 Sandleford seems to have been

780-500: A longlist announced in July. The program initially comprised merely an opportunity to vote for longlist favourites, comments by the judges to guide summer reading, and advice on "how to build a classic library of children's books".(2001 longlist) A version of the ongoing Young Critics contest was inaugurated in 2002 and the program has expanded since then to include online discussion and author interviews and appearances. Meanwhile, announcement of

858-587: A new animated series based on the book and in April 2016 that the series would be a co-production between the BBC and Netflix , consisting of four one-hour episodes, with a budget of £20 million. The four episode serial premiered on the BBC and Netflix on 23 December 2018, with the voices of James McAvoy as Hazel, John Boyega as Bigwig, and Ben Kingsley as General Woundwort. It received generally positive reviews, with praise for

SECTION 10

#1733085813046

936-430: A part of or belonged with Ulvitrone, aka Newbury, to Arnulf or Ernulf de Hesdin (1038-killed Antioch, 1097/98), son of Gerard IV of Hesdin by his wife Nesta ferch Gruffydd, a daughter of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn by Ealdgyth, daughter of Earl Ælfgar . Newbury was assessed to have had pannage for 50 hogs, much of this woodland will have been the wood called Brademore (Broadmoor) at Sandleford. Richard Pinfold, one of 30 of

1014-523: A population of 49 in nine houses, but in 1881 the population of Sandleford had shrunk to 34. In 1615 it was separated from the manor and parish of Newbury, and the adjacent Wash Common and became extra-parochial , as described by Sir Francis More, Kt, of Fawley , it was to be: no part of the Parish of Newbury, nor to be so reputed . On 23 August 1759 the Rector of Newbury, Rev. Thomas Penrose (died 1769), father of

1092-518: A seductive home at Cowslip's Warren (Land of the Lotus Eaters )? Rateliff goes on to compare the rabbits' battle with Woundwort's Efrafans to Aeneas's fight with Turnus 's Latins . "By basing his story on one of the most popular books of the Middle Ages and Renaissance , Adams taps into a very old myth: the flight from disaster, the heroic refugee in search of a new home, a story that was already over

1170-484: A single, the song became a UK number one hit although Richard Adams said that he hated it. Although the essentials of the plot remained relatively unchanged, the film omitted several side plots. Though the Watership Down warren eventually grew to seventeen rabbits with the additions of Strawberry, Holly, Bluebell, and three hutch rabbits liberated from the farm, the movie includes a band of only eight. Rosen's adaptation

1248-505: A story I told to my little girls." Instead, he explained, the "let-in" religious stories of El-ahrairah were meant more as legendary tales, similar to a rabbit Robin Hood , and these stories were interspersed throughout the book as humorous interjections to the often "grim" tales of the "real story". The Economist heralded the book's publication, saying "If there is no place for Watership Down in children's bookshops, then children's literature

1326-520: A thousand years old when Virgil told it in 19 BC." When asked in a 2007 BBC Radio interview about the religious symbolism in the novel, Adams said the story was "nothing like that at all". He said the rabbits in Watership Down did not worship; however, "they believed passionately in El-ahrairah." Adams explained that he meant the book to be "only a made-up story   ... in no sense an allegory or parable or any kind of political myth. I simply wrote down

1404-399: A total of 39 episodes over three seasons. Although the story was broadly based on the novel and most characters and events retained, some of the story lines and characters (especially in later episodes) were entirely new. In 2003, the second season was nominated for a Gemini Award for Best Original Music Score for a Dramatic Series. In July 2014, it was announced that the BBC would be airing

1482-499: A withdrawn holy person; Sandleford was a priory of Austin canons, founded between 1193 and 1202 by Geoffrey, 4th count of Perch, and Richenza-Matilda his wife. A confirmation charter from Archbishop Stephen indicates the priory was dedicated to St John the Baptist and endowed with all the lands of Sandleford. The appropriation of the priory, on 9 March 1478, to the Dean and Canons of Windsor

1560-626: Is August to July of the current year, but May, June, and July books must be submitted in advance. Books originally published in another language were eligible in English translation for five years. Routinely, eligible books were entered for the prize by their UK publishers, as many as ten books each (2000) although chair Eccleshare also called for particular submissions. Through 2016, 52 prizes were awarded in 49 years covering 1966 to mid-2015 publications. There were co-winners in 1992 and 1996. (US title, The Golden Compass ) Until 2000, books published in

1638-518: Is a fictional language created by author Richard Adams for the novel, where it is spoken by the rabbit characters. The language was again used in Adams's 1996 sequel, Tales from Watership Down , and has appeared in both the film and television adaptations . The language fragments in the books consist of a few dozen distinct words, used mainly for the naming of rabbits, their mythological characters, and objects in their world. The name "Lapine" comes from

SECTION 20

#1733085813046

1716-474: Is a hamlet and former civil parish , now in the parish of Greenham , in the West Berkshire district, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire , England. It is located approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of the town of Newbury . In 1858 Sandleford became a civil parish, on 1 April 1934 the parish was abolished and merged with Greenham and Newbury. Sandleford contains about 520 acres, most of which

1794-417: Is an allegory." John Rowe Townsend notes that the book quickly achieved such a high popularity despite the fact that it "came out at a high price and in an unattractive jacket from a publisher who had hardly been heard of." Fred Inglis, in his book The Promise of Happiness: Value and meaning in children's fiction , praises the author's use of prose to express the strangeness of ordinary human inventions from

1872-425: Is dead." Peter Prescott , senior book reviewer at Newsweek , gave the novel a glowing review: "Adams handles his suspenseful narrative more dextrously than most authors who claim to write adventure novels, but his true achievement lies in the consistent, comprehensible and altogether enchanting civilisation that he has created." Kathleen J. Rothen and Beverly Langston identified the work as one that "subtly speaks to

1950-405: Is overcrowded. At Hazel's request, Holly leads a small embassy to Efrafa to present their request for does. Hazel and Pipkin (the smallest rabbit) decide to scout out the nearby Nuthanger Farm, where they find a rabbit hutch. Despite their uncertainty about living wild, the four hutch rabbits are willing to come to Watership. Two nights later, Hazel leads a raid on the farm, which frees two does and

2028-554: Is situated to the south of Newbury. The present lessee is Edward Montagu , Esq.; Member of Parliament for the town of Huntingdon. In 1931 the parish had a population of 30. The Victorian historian Walter Money believed that, at the start of the First Battle of Newbury in September 1643, Prince Rupert of the Rhine lined up his cavalry at the western end of Sandleford estate, straddling

2106-469: Is taken up with the fields and copses to the west of the Priory. A census taken in 1801 showed Sandleford to have three houses, three families and 18 people. At the same time Newbury comprised 931 houses, 34 empty houses, 971 families and 4275 people. John Marius Wilson in his Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales , 1870–72, gave Sandleford as having Real property £775; of which £10 are in fisheries , and

2184-631: Is under war conditions   ... We've tried to capture that anxiety." A reviewer at The Times called the play "an exciting, often brutal tale of survival" and said that "even when it's a muddle, it's a glorious one." In 2011, Watership Down was adapted for the Lifeline Theatre in Chicago by John Hildreth. This production was directed by Katie McLean Hainsworth and the cast included Scott T. Barsotti, Chris Daley, Paul S. Holmquist, and Mandy Walsh. Guardian Children%27s Fiction Prize The prize

2262-583: The Great Exhibition of 1851. King James I , was leased Sandleford farm by the Dean and Canons of Windsor, January 1605. The other present owners and directors of Sandleford Farm partnership and Skilldraw Ltd include Nicholas Laing (c. 15%), of the family that made McVitie's , and father of TV's Made in Chelsea star Jamie Laing; Delia Norgate, widow of the founder of Trencherwood Homes, John Norgate; and Noel Gibbs

2340-621: The Sandleford warren , Fiver, a runty young rabbit who is a seer , receives a frightening vision of his warren's imminent destruction. He and his brother Hazel fail to convince the Threarah, their Chief Rabbit, of the need to evacuate; they then try to convince the other rabbits, but only succeed in gaining nine followers, all bucks (males) and no does (females). Captain Holly of the Sandleford Owsla,

2418-602: The Tir na n-Og Award , best English-language book for young people with "authentic Welsh background". In 2003, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon won the 2003 Whitbread Awards as the year's best novel (not children's book) and the "Book of the Year" across all five categories. The Guardian children's book editor Eccleshare wrote, "Published on both an adult and

Watership Down - Misplaced Pages Continue

2496-400: The epic poem Odyssey . Kenneth Kitchell declared, "Hazel stands in the tradition of Odysseus , Aeneas , and others". Tolkien scholar John Rateliff calls Adams's novel an Aeneid "what-if" book: what if the seer Cassandra (Fiver) had been believed and she and a company had fled Troy (Sandleford Warren) before its destruction? What if Hazel and his companions, like Odysseus, encounter

2574-483: The hills . The group eventually finds and settles in a beech hanger (a wooded hill) on Watership Down. While digging the new warren, they are joined by Captain Holly and his friend Bluebell. Holly is severely wounded, and both rabbits are ill from exhaustion, having escaped both the violent destruction of the Sandleford Warren by humans and an attack by Cowslip's rabbits along the way. Holly's ordeal has left him

2652-550: The 1972 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association , recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject . He also won the annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize , a similar award that authors may not win twice. In 1977 California schoolchildren selected it for the inaugural California Young Reader Medal in the Young Adult category, which annually honours one book from the last four years. In The Big Read ,

2730-500: The Adams estate's legal fees totalling £28,000. In the early 1970s Bo Hansson was introduced to the book by his then girlfriend. This gave him an idea to create a new album in the same style as his Lord of the Rings album. In 1977 he released the all instrumental El-Ahrairah . The title was taken directly from the pages of Watership Down , with El-Ahrairah being the name of a trickster, folk-hero/deity rabbit, known as The Prince with

2808-452: The Cold War, fascism, extremism   ... a protest against materialism, against the corporate state. Watership Down can be Ireland after the famine, Rwanda after the massacres." Kadish has praised both the fantasy genre and Watership Down for its "motifs [that] hit home in every culture   ... all passersby are welcome to bring their own subplots and plug into the archetype." Adams won

2886-552: The Efrafan officers, fervently believes the General must have survived. After releasing the dog, Hazel is attacked by Tab, one of the farmhouse cats . He is saved by young Lucy, the former owner of the escaped hutch rabbits, who shows him to the local doctor before releasing him. Upon returning to Watership, Hazel effects a lasting peace and friendship between the remaining Efrafans and the Watership rabbits. Some time later, Hazel and Campion,

2964-458: The French word for rabbit. Watership Down has been described as an allegory , with the labours of Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig, and Silver "mirror[ing] the timeless struggles between tyranny and freedom, reason and blind emotion, and the individual and the corporate state." Adams draws on classical heroic and quest themes from Homer and Virgil , creating a story with epic motifs. The book explores

3042-479: The Rabbit in which the rabbit world is matriarchal, and new warrens are initiated by dissatisfied young females. In similar vein, literary critic Jane Resh Thomas said Watership Down "draws upon   ... an anti-feminist social tradition which, removed from the usual human context and imposed upon rabbits, is eerie in its clarity". Thomas also called it a "splendid story" in which "anti-feminist bias   ... damages

3120-678: The author's exposure to the works of mythologist Joseph Campbell , especially his study of comparative mythology , The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), and in particular, Campbell's " monomyth " theory, also based on Carl Jung 's view of the unconscious mind, that "all the stories in the world are really one story." The concept of the hero has invited comparisons between Watership Down's characters and those in Homer 's Odyssey and Virgil 's Aeneid . Hazel's courage, Bigwig's strength, Blackberry's ingenuity and craftiness, and Dandelion's and Bluebell's poetry and storytelling all have parallels in

3198-452: The boundary with Wash Common and looking towards Enborne , although this is now disputed. After the battle, the line of march pursued by Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex back to Reading, was from the Wash, by Sandleford, over Greenham Common and via Theale. Inclusa of Sandraford , as mentioned in a pipe roll of 26 Henry II, 1179–80. Otherwise known as an anchoress, a female Anchorite ,

Watership Down - Misplaced Pages Continue

3276-427: The bucks towards the does portrayed as "little more than passive baby-factories". In a 1974 New York Times Book Review essay "Male Chauvinist Rabbits", Selma G. Lanes alleges that the does are only "instruments of reproduction to save his male rabbits' triumph from becoming a hollow victory." Lanes argued that this view of female rabbits came from Adams rather than his source text, Ronald Lockley's The Private Life of

3354-529: The evenings and completed it 18 months later. The book is dedicated to the two girls. Adams's descriptions of wild rabbit behaviour were based on The Private Life of the Rabbit (1964), by British naturalist Ronald Lockley . The two later became friends, embarking on an Antarctic tour that became the subject of a co-authored book, Voyage Through the Antarctic (A. Lane, 1982). In his autobiography, The Day Gone By , Adams wrote that he based Watership Down and

3432-484: The film. Rosen had entered into adaptation contracts worth more than $ 500,000 (£400,000), including licences for an audiobook adaptation and the 2018 television adaptation. In his ruling, Judge Richard Hacon ordered Rosen to pay over $ 100,000 in damages for copyright infringement, unauthorised licence deals, and denying royalty payments to the Adams estate. Rosen was also directed to provide a record of all licence agreements involving Watership Down , and pay court costs and

3510-575: The freeholders of Newbury in 1655, and sometime holder of the lease of the coppice named High Wood; John Kendrick , Warren farm which abuts the estate to the west was purchased for £250, out of the £4000 which Kendrick left Newbury in 1624. In addition the Kendrick charity had two closes on the west side of Newtown lane leased from the Dean & Canons, for 10l 10s per annum. Levi Smith (died 1703), Mayor of Newbury 1674 and 1693. Owned land in Greenham and along

3588-463: The intelligent new chief of Efrafa, send rabbits to start a new warren at Caesar's Belt, to relieve the effects of overcrowding at both their warrens. As time goes on, the three warrens on the downs prosper under Hazel, Campion and Groundsel (their respective chiefs). General Woundwort is never seen or heard from again; he becomes a legend among the rabbits, and a sort of bogeyman to frighten rabbit kits. Kehaar rejoins his colony, but continues to visit

3666-500: The longlist and thereafter chaired the panel of final judges. In years to 2016, a longlist of eight books was announced in May or June, a shortlist of no more than four announced in September, and a single winner. The longlist was the foundation for a summer program of reading, reviewing, and discussion. The U.K. publishers of eligible books entered them for the prize with a fee, although the chair may call for submission. The publication year

3744-428: The longlist books to the winners. Up to 30 students from the winning school also get a day at one Guardian site.(2012 Young Critics) The Young Critics contests are judged by Eccleshare, who also helps select the longlist, and another Guardian editor. Beside the competition there is a summer book club that features one longlist book each week, with author interviews and discussion. Sandleford Sandleford

3822-463: The longlist has advanced to late May or early June and announcement of the winner has retreated to November. The shortlist of no more than four books and the winner were selected by three children's fiction writers, almost always including the latest winner. The Guardian described the prize as the only children's book award winner selected by peers. The newspaper's children's book editor Julia Eccleshare participated (from 2000 to 2016) in selection of

3900-644: The more graphic scenes. Numerous rabbits die in bloody fights, while one gets choked by a snare and another is snatched by a bird of prey." From 1999 to 2001, the book was also adapted as an animated television series, broadcast on CITV in the UK and on YTV in Canada. Only the first two series were aired in the UK, while all three series were aired in Canada. It was produced by Martin Rosen and starred several well-known British actors, including Stephen Fry , Rik Mayall , Dawn French , John Hurt , and Richard Briers , running for

3978-536: The next page before daring to finish the preceding one." D. Keith Mano , a science fiction writer and conservative social commentator writing in the National Review , declared that the novel was "pleasant enough, but it has about the same intellectual firepower as Dumbo." He pilloried it further: " Watership Down is an adventure story, no more than that: rather a swashbuckling crude one to boot. There are virtuous rabbits and bad rabbits: if that's allegory, Bonanza

SECTION 50

#1733085813046

4056-465: The novel follows the rabbits as they escape the destruction of their warren and seek a place to establish a new home (the hill of Watership Down ), encountering perils and temptations along the way. Watership Down was Richard Adams's debut novel . It was rejected by several publishers before Collings accepted the manuscript ; the published book then won the annual Carnegie Medal (UK), annual Guardian Prize (UK), and other book awards. The novel

4134-452: The novel in only a minor way". Adams's 1996 sequel, Tales from Watership Down includes stories where the female rabbits play a more prominent role in the Watership Down warren. On 27 May 2020, the high court in London ruled that Martin Rosen , the director of the 1978 film adaptation, had wrongly claimed that he owned all rights to the book, as well as terminating his contract for rights to

4212-466: The old priory buildings between 1780 and 1786 by James Wyatt , for Elizabeth Montagu , the social reformer, patron of the arts, salonist , literary critic and writer who helped organise and lead the Blue Stockings Society . It was later inherited by her nephew, Matthew Montagu, 4th Baron Rokeby . Her friend Hannah More was there often and described it in 1784. Other wealthy citizens that it

4290-463: The patrol must be killed to prevent them from reporting to Woundwort, but Hazel spares them and sends them off. A few weeks later, the Owsla of Efrafa, led by Woundwort, unexpectedly arrives to destroy the warren at Watership Down and take back the escapees. Fiver experiences another vision, which gives Hazel the solution to the problem. While Bigwig fights and injures Woundwort in a narrow tunnel, preventing

4368-574: The performances of its voice cast, but received criticism for its tone and the quality of the computer animation . In 2006, Watership Down was again adapted for the stage, this time by Rona Munro . It ran at the Lyric Hammersmith in London. Directed by Melly Still , the cast included Matthew Burgess, Joseph Traynor, and Richard Simons. The tone of the production was inspired by the tension of war: in an interview with The Guardian , Still commented, "The closest humans come to feeling like rabbits

4446-410: The poet Thomas Penrose , in answer to some set questions about Newbury, and to question number five in particular which concerned 'seats of gentry' in the town, wrote this: [Newbury has] No seat of gentry; if you except Sandleford, which is an estate held of the church of Windsor, and which is often considered as extra-parochial, but which pays a composition in lieu of tithes to the rector of Newbury. It

4524-792: The previous year were eligible for the award, and the award included a winner and a shortlist. In 2001, the award cycle was rescheduled to conclude in the fall rather than the spring. At the same time, a longlist of seven books was instituted with a shortlist of four to six books. Six books have won both the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the Carnegie Medal (inaugurated 1936), which annually recognizes an outstanding book for children or young adults. (Dates are years of U.K. publication, which were Carnegie award dates before 2006.) In 2001, The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland won

4602-403: The rabbits and shoots all the predators. Fiver senses death and deception in the new warren, but the rest of Hazel's group, enjoying the peace and good food, decide to ignore Fiver's warnings and the strange and evasive behaviour of the new rabbits. Later, Bigwig is caught in a snare , only surviving the ordeal thanks to Blackberry and Hazel's quick thinking. Fiver deduces the truth, and admonishes

4680-509: The rabbits every winter. He refuses to search for Woundwort, showing that even he still fears him. Years later, on a cold March morning, an elderly Hazel is visited by El-ahrairah, the legendary rabbit folk hero and spiritual Prince of the Rabbits. He invites Hazel to join his Owsla, reassuring Hazel of Watership's future success and prosperity. Leaving his friends and his physical body behind, Hazel departs Watership Down with El-ahrairah. "Lapine"

4758-536: The rabbits of the Watership Down warren. "To Juliet and Rosamund, remembering the road to Stratford-on-Avon " "Master Rabbit I saw" — Walter de la Mare The story began as tales that Richard Adams told his young daughters Juliet and Rosamund during long car journeys. He recounted in 2007 that he "began telling the story of the rabbits   ... improvised off the top of [his] head, as [they] were driving along". The daughters insisted he write it down—"they were very, very persistent". After some delay he began writing in

SECTION 60

#1733085813046

4836-438: The rabbits' perspective. Watership Down' s universal motifs of liberation and self-determination have been identified with by readers from a diversity of backgrounds; the author Rachel Kadish , reflecting on her own superimposition of the founding of Israel onto Watership Down , has remarked "Turns out plenty of other people have seen their histories in that book   ... some people see it as an allegory for struggles against

4914-403: The rest in a wild lecture; the farmer feeds and protects the rabbits so he can harvest them for meat and skins, and Cowslip's rabbits invited the guests into their warren to increase their own odds of survival. The Sandleford rabbits, badly shaken, continue on their journey. They are joined by Strawberry, a buck who deserts Cowslip's warren. Fiver's visions instruct the rabbits to seek a home atop

4992-494: The rest of the Efrafans from getting any further into the burrows, Hazel, Dandelion and Blackberry return to Nuthanger Farm. They release Bob, the farmer's Labrador , and lure him back to Watership Down. Bob attacks the Efrafans, who flee in terror, leaving Woundwort to stubbornly stand his ground unobserved. Following the fight, Bob returns to Nuthanger Farm with a few wounds, but there is no sign of Woundwort's body. Groundsel, one of

5070-647: The stories in it on his experiences during Operation Market Garden , the Battle of Arnhem , in 1944. The character of Hazel, the leader of the group of rabbits, was modelled on Adams's commanding officer, Major John Gifford. He gave the warrior Bigwig the personality of Captain Desmond Kavanagh, who is buried at the Airborne Cemetery in Oosterbeek , The Netherlands. Watership Down was rejected seven times before it

5148-530: The strongest rabbits among them, protect the others, helped by Hazel's good judgement and the ingenuity of the clever rabbit Blackberry. Along the way, they cross the River Enborne , and evade a badger, a dog, a crow, and a car. Hazel and Bigwig also stop three rabbits from attempting to return to the Sandleford warren. A rabbit named Cowslip invites Hazel's group to join his warren, where a farmer leaves food for

5226-465: The themes of exile, survival, heroism, leadership, political responsibility, and the "making of a hero and a community". Joan Bridgman's analysis of Adams's works in The Contemporary Review identifies the community and hero motifs: "[T]he hero's journey into a realm of terrors to bring back some boon to save himself and his people" is a powerful element in Adams's tale. This theme derives from

5304-544: The warren and can recruit other does to join in the escape. Hazel and Blackberry devise a plan to rescue Hyzenthlay's group and bring them to Watership Down. Bigwig infiltrates Efrafa in the guise of a 'hlessi' (a wandering rabbit unattached to any warren). He is recruited into the Efrafan Owsla by Woundwort, while Hazel and several other Watership rabbits hide across the nearby River Test . With help from Kehaar, Bigwig manages to free Hyzenthlay and nine other does, as well as

5382-406: The warren's military caste , accuses the group of fomenting dissension against the Threarah. He tries to stop them from leaving, but is driven off. Once out in the world, the traveling group of rabbits finds itself following the leadership of Hazel, who had been considered an unimportant member of the warren. The group travels far through dangerous territory. Bigwig and Silver, both former Owsla and

5460-402: Was accepted by Rex Collings. The one-man London publisher Collings wrote to an associate, "I've just taken on a novel about rabbits, one of them with extra-sensory perception. Do you think I'm mad?" The associate did call it "a mad risk," in her obituary of Collings, to accept "a book as bizarre by an unknown writer which had been turned down by the major London publishers; but," she continued, "it

5538-424: Was adapted into an 2D animated feature film in 1978 and a 2D animated children's television series from 1999 and 2001. In 2018, the novel was adapted again, this time into a 3D animated series , which both aired in the UK and was made available on Netflix . Adams completed a sequel almost 25 years later, in 1996, Tales from Watership Down , constructed as a collection of 19 short stories about El-ahrairah and

5616-427: Was also dazzlingly brave and intuitive." Collings had little capital and could not pay an advance but "he got a review copy onto every desk in London that mattered." Adams wrote that it was Collings who gave Watership Down its title. There was a second edition in 1973. Macmillan USA , then a media giant, published the first U.S. edition in 1974 and a Dutch edition was also published that year by Het Spectrum . In

5694-457: Was established in 1965 as the "only children's book award made to writers by their fellow authors" (2005 shortlist) and inaugurated by the 1967 award to Leon Garfield for Devil in the Fog ( Constable & Co. , 1966). Through the 2000 prize, announced 28 March, it recognised one book published in the UK during the preceding calendar year. Between the 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 cycles, the prize schedule

5772-426: Was inaugurated in 2002 and is still underway. The newspaper solicited 200-word reviews of books on the longlist from children 16 and younger, with the prize being "a day editing and printing up their reviews".(retrospective by CA, 23 Sep 2002) Ten years later there are dual competitions for children 17 and younger, one for individuals and one for teams of at least four schoolmates. There are cash prizes and free sets of

5850-645: Was leased to during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, these included: The house is now home to St Gabriel's School . This house, formerly known has both Sandleford Cottage and Sandleford Lodge, sits on the southern boundary of the old parish, by the River Enborne, on the Berkshire and Hampshire, and Sandleford and Newtown border. Its former residents have included: James Asprey, Esq., maltster , (Highclere, 1811–1893), of Sandleford Grove, exhibited white trump wheat grown on very poor soil , weight 67 Lbs per bushel, at

5928-403: Was mainly owing to Bishop Beauchamp of Salisbury, who was Dean of Windsor from 1478 to 1481. By this time it appears the religious had forsaken the priory. The chapel of Sandleford Priory (1200–1478) was incorporated into a later country house. The present Sandleford Priory is a Grade I listed building in 54 acres (22 ha) of parkland landscaped by Capability Brown . It was erected around

6006-509: Was praised for "cutting through Adams' book   ... to get to the beating heart". The film has also seen some positive critical attention. In 1979 the film received a nomination for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation . Additionally, British television station Channel 4 's 2006 documentary 100 Greatest Cartoons named it the 86th greatest cartoon of all time. But, "lovable bunnies notwithstanding, younger children might be troubled by

6084-467: Was rearranged to culminate in October during Booktrust Children's Book Week. "[F]iction for children aged seven and above, published in the UK between January 2000 and September 2001" (21 months) was eligible for the 2001 prize. Publishers were required to submit no more than ten entries by April 30. At the same time, a summer program was inaugurated, using the newspaper's educational website and featuring

#45954