A Redwall Winter's Tale

?This short tale is illustrated by Christopher Denise, who also illustrated The Great Redwall Feast. Denise does a wonderful job of capturing the characters and mood of the Redwallworld. In this tale, traveling players visit the abbey and perform at a feast marking the last day of autumn. The dibbuns hear a bedtime tale of the Snow Badger, the lord of winter. Later the Snow Badger visits the abbey grounds with his army of snow hares to bring the first winter's snow. This is a "winter's tale," the kind of tale that might be told around a fireplace on a cold winter's night, and it includes an example of a winter's tale, the tale of the Snow Badger. A winter's tale typically involves some supernatural elements (See Shakespeare's Winter's Tale for another variation on this genre or Isak Dinesen's 7 Gothic Tales.)

Illustrator Christopher Denise does a superb job of bringing a visual feast of animal characters to life in Brian Jacques' "A Redwall Winter's Tale." Amazingly talented artist.

A traveling group of entertainers arrives at the Redwall Abbey on the last day of Autumn. The travellers put on a big show, and the Redwallers provide a huge feast. When it is time to put the Dibbuns (youngsters) to bed, Mighty Bulbrock Badger tells a bedtime story. Who brings the wintertime snows? Why, the Snow Badger, of course! But is the Snow Badger real, or just a fairy tale told to the Dibbuns? You'll have to read the book to find out. The pictures are wonderful, perfectly complementing the story. Like Brian Jacques' previous picture book The Great Redwall Feast, also illustrated by Christopher Denise, this is a perfect introduction to the Redwall series for younger readers and a great book for all ages.

I got this book during the christmas season thinking it would be a regular chapter book. This is not a Chapter Book!!!! This only has a few words per page but the illustrations make up for everything. Don't get me wrong though, the story is written very well, very poetically in fact. This is great read, especially for younger people who may have a hard time reading some of Jacques other longer books. Definitely worth it!

Brian Jacques is perhaps England's second-best-known young adult writer after J. K. Rowling. His thirteen Redwall novels have a large and loyal following. While the novels are for readers nine-and-up, this volume begs to be shared by the entire family. The rich illustrations bring to mind classics like "Peter Rabbit" and "Wind in the Willows."On Autumn's Final Day, the animals of Redwall Abbey gather together to celebrate the coming of winter. There is great excitement in the community because on this special night they will feast and be entertained by the famous "Traveling Thistledown Troup." This is a tale of community, friendship, and belief that will no doubt become a family holiday tradition.