The book follows the Farthing Wood animals on their journey to White Deer Park. It was originally meant to be a stand alone book, with the animals reaching White Deer Park at the end. The success of the book led to a further six novels detailing the adventures of the animals once they reached White Deer Park, and a prequel showing how Farthing Wood came to be destroyed.

It is certainly true that the programme was unusually stark and brutal at times. Just look at the ‘Butcher Bird’.Animals of Farthing Wood (The): The Complete Series". networkonair.com . Retrieved 28 June 2017. [ permanent dead link] FieldmasterFox (25 September 2016), Journey Home The Animal of Fathing Wood Starring Ralph Macchio , retrieved 16 March 2018 I also enjoyed the message that went with every animals uniqueness: we all have a place and a part to play in life; no matter how small or large; weak or strong. I appreciated the way Dann did not shy away from adressing the realities of life: death, suffering, hardship and hunger; but met these topics head on, with hope intertwined.

The book is a traditional journey tale not only in the style of other animal books such as Watership Down, but Lord of the Rings. The moral of this story is that humans are taking up all of the land and leaving nothing for our wildlife. The message was well intended, but too much made about human fellows and less about the animals. The story follows a group of animals, led by Fox, as they make the decision to leave their home behind. People are bulldozing Farthing Wood to make room for new houses and Toad has just returned with news of a nature reserve where the group can live without fear. There’s even a Romeo and Juliet style sub-plot thrown in (The Lion King 2 got there much later). Would The Animals of Farthing Wood get made today?End of Snare for the Unwary (Kestrel spots river, Animals cross River, Fox and Badger hit by driftwood) This was a poignant trip down memory lane for me, because as a child, I used to love the TV adaptation of 'The Animals of Farthing Wood' and I remember rushing my dinner so I could go and watch it in the comfort and peace of my bedroom. Those were the days.