Redwall: Redwall, Book 1 (by Brian Jacques)
common sense media says
Exciting tale promotes peace in the face of war.
parents & educators say
- 38% say there are positive role models
- 38% say there are positive messages
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this is an exciting and well-told tale, but sophisticated language might deter younger or less experienced readers. Challenging vocabulary and rich, descriptive passages will help readers to improve their language skills. Though characters go to war, and there are plenty of deaths, including sad ones of secondary characters, the inherent value of a peaceful existence is promoted.
Educational value:
Not applicable.
Positive role models:
Matthias the mouse starts as a small abbey apprentice and becomes a hero, making friends out of other woodland creatures in the process.
Violence:
War is waged in defense of the Abbey. The deaths are sometimes inflicted by gruesome methods: impalement, falling from great heights, stabbings, bludgeoning, bee stings, scalding, beheading, etc., and there are a few rather sad deaths of secondary characters. A scary, monstrous adder stalks characters throughout the story. Characters are kidnapped, beaten, and starved by the evil rats.
Sex:
A mild flirtation.
Language:
Many phrases that contain "hell," usually uttered by Cluny the Scourge. Plus the word "hussy" uttered once.
Consumerism:
Not applicable.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
Many references to the partiality of some animals to the ale at the abbey and a mention of an animal being "tipsy."
More on Redwall: Redwall, Book 1
Review It
Based on 8 parent & educator reviews:
- 38% say there are positive role models
- 38% say there are positive messages
Most useful reviews by all members
Rivern
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
Marvelous Tale of Adventure and Lore
The book Redwall has always been one of my all time favorites. It's meaningful, it's smart, and it has a very good moral to it. The plot revolves around a young mouse, Matthias, that helps around the Abbey. When the evil Cluny the Scourge comes to Redwall with evil intent, it's up to young Matthias to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior, located deep within the cave of the dreaded adderhead, Amadeus. While Matthias goes through incredible challenges and faces his worst fears, he finds himself and true love along the way. A message to parents: This is a marvelously written book that will positively affect your child. Because it's tween and teen oriented, it has a great deal of violence, which can get brutal at times. However, Brian Jaques doesn't go into too much detail about deaths, just phrases like 'The sword went right through his middle, his eyes lulling back in his skull'. A message to kids: I remember back when I was eight or nine, I stumbled upon this book at the library. I thought it looked interesting and brought it home, only to find it was much better than I expected. I would strongly recommend checking out this book; it's almost as if someone is giving you a personal overlook as to what is happening.
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ronitld
parent of 8 year old
parent of 8 year old
This book is creepy and violent. The main villian cluny, is pathological and the wanton cruelty is pervasive.
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readinthirtymin
teen, 13 years old
teen, 13 years old
book with detail
Its a great book the whole series is great but you should read it to your kids the words are very sophisticated and hard to understand so you might have to explain like what a habbit is
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Boxcarmystery
adult
adult
Redwall: Good for tweens, but not all younger children...
I rather love the Redwall series. One of my concerns is, there is character death in the book, which not all parents are going to want to let their kids read about, because they simple aren't ready.The role models are good though, and one can look up to them. The message that the book has is a rather positive one too.
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Mattmchugh
parent of 8 and 10 year old
parent of 8 and 10 year old
A well-crafted fantasy for school age to young teens
Think "Lord of the Rings" with mice. Or "Wind in the Willows" with medieval weaponry. Either way, you've got a fine fantasy epic for kids that doesn't talk down to them. It's well-written and richly detailed. Some of the descriptions do go on a bit (the accounts of banquet menus seemed like overkill on occasion), but the sophisticated language really does set the tone nicely. You may have to explain what a parapet or a halberd is, but context helps kids follow along. I read this to my kids when they were 5 and 7. A smart kid over 10 could read it themselves. Note that it does have scenes of combat, as well as some death and sadness, though nothing too graphic.
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paperback.writer
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
Favorite bookseries
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Redwall Fan
parent of 13 year old
parent of 13 year old
High vocabulary.. a Good read
Amazing! A fantasy tale that leaves me speechless. The food is described in great detail that my mouth waters, and the battles so epic and for a good cause but I feel so sad about the deaths of characters, but in the end, the peaceful Redwallers always prevail. I first heard the title and I said "Talking Animals! Are you serious? This is going to be stupid!" but I was wrong.... SO SO SO SO SO wrong.
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tweeni
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
perfect for adventure lovers!
Redwall is a great book for kids who love animals and fantasy. This book has a good dose of adventure in it. The violence isn't too realistic to scare younger kids and the plot is good enough to keep readers hooked.
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9001
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
Wonderful book, but too violent for young kids.
I love this book, and all of the other books in the Redwall series that I've read! This book does contain some intense violence and mild language, so I'd say 12+.
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animalloverkt
adult
adult
Wonderfully written, but...
This is a wonderful telling of a medieval abbey inhabited by mice, hedgehogs, badgers, hares, otters, and squirrels. (I think that's it...) This is the first in the series, and by far the one with the most plot and character developement. The detail is wonderful and, well...descriptive. (This is written in the style of Watership Down, another wonderfully written book, though it has a slow part toward the middle.) There is some violence. Some of the nice mouseys (as one of my younger friends describes them as) die deaths described in sometimes too much detail. Brian Jacques (pronounced 'Jakes') is setting up the rest of the series in this one volume. My mom has a comment though:"All the Redwall books have the same plot; something threatens the [Redwall] Abbey, and the main character goes on a quest for something with some other characters. The rest of the characters stay at the abbey and try and defend it. The questors (sp?) come back at just the right time, and save the abbey until the next book." This comment, for the most part, is completely accurate. I love this series personally, but sometimes requires multiple reads to completely understand it. Once you do, you will read them even more.
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bap425
teen, 17 years old
teen, 17 years old
Very entertaining, read in three days!
This is a great book, but must have pretty good reading skills, as it is very long and some language is hard to understand, moles in particular. It is about 400 pages long. Just because this book is about animals does not mean it is a little kid book. I think you should be about ten to read this, if you can handle harry potter you can definetly handle this.
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Yemi
adult
adult
Redwall: Simple Tween Read
This book has characters that grow on you, and end up growing through the series. Mathias goes from bumbling mouse to warrior with a turn of the season. The good guys win... though some people have come to be tiered of this in the series... the black and white almost seperationg between the animals. AKA, the goodbeast concist of herbavores, and the vermin concist of carnivores. But in this case, it makes logical sense.
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Lvl100uberpidgey
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
Great book!
Most teens will likely say "Talking animals who go on adventures? How incredibly stupid!" I was a bit skeptical at first, but this series of books is incredible! They are very well written and leave you wanting more, which is okay because as of the time I wrote this review, there are about 20 books in the series, and all of them are stellar and live up to the amazing first book!
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starwars reviewer
kid, 13 years old
kid, 13 years old
For Redwaaaaaall!!!! Medieval Times Mixed With Animals!
How could I describe Redwall? The only book I love to read with an entire cast of animals! A little mouse is a lot more threatening with a legendary sword, no? I really enjoy this series! It is chock full of action, adventure, and comedy! As long as you know medieval speak, know that this is awesome!
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Kate Dawson
teen, 18 years old
teen, 18 years old
wonderfull Books
The whole Redwall series is an excellent book series. They are adventerous, exciting, and have great morales behind them. They do have some confusing words, but these books are well worth reading!I would suggest them for kids about 10 or 11 and up. The Violence in them is very mild, and is no worse than Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, or Pirates of the Carribean. The Redwall books are amazingly well written, and are a must read for anyone into adventure, even adults would appreciate them.
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Wombat Lover
kid, 11 years old
kid, 11 years old
redwall
it is a very good book including adventure,and violence
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dasnake1234
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
My Favorite Book Ever!
The title says it all!
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