The Great Rabbit Rescue by Katie Davies

The Great Rabbit Rescue by Katie Davies
Buy The Great Rabbit Rescue by Katie Davies at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: John Lloyd
Summary: The second of these endearing and quirky adventure-type stories for the under-elevens. A series well worth looking in to.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 224	Date: September 2010
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books
ISBN: 978-1847385963
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Joe-Down-The-Road has a new love in his life. It's his new pet rabbit, a replacement for the old one that died of fright. As a result he keeps it guarded day and night, water-pistolling anything that might or might not be a threat to its safety. But when he leaves home to live with his dad, what becomes of the rabbit? What if it isn't the right move for Joe - or the rabbit - and they need to be reunited? Only Anna and friends can possibly help.

This is the second book in this series, and is almost as superb as the first. Katie (wife of Alan) Davies has done it again with a charming yet mysterious adventure for the under-elevens, that has very subtle moral sides, for want of a better word, about looking up words in a dictionary, making careful plans, doing the right thing by all - pets especially, but 95% of the time has an amusing, more dramatic priority to put across.

So from the evidence of the first two books, one great thing is the plot. Adults will guess the ending here, but even if the target audience does it will only add to the breezy, slightly sarcastic, slightly ironic sense of humour that is all over the place here. One other great thing, related to being 'all over the place', is the telling. It seems to have borrowed structure at times from Ronnie Corbett's more rambling monologues from his big chair. At first our narrator Anna just cannot put her thoughts to the matter to hand, or in order, with distractions about the copious games her friends and she used to play before they all got banned for being too dangerous, and more. The actual separation of Joe and rabbit properly comes almost at the halfway point.

Linked to that is the even other great thing (to borrow a phrase), which is the superlative way Davies has once again got into the logic of a nine year old. The rabbit's diet must be helped and not left to being pellets of dry small pet food, as Anna once tried to eat a box of crackers and only managed two.

There're heaps of examples of Anna not being the most sensible girl around, especially when an animal's life is in danger, even with the help of a gadget-generous retired policewoman, and an ex-RAF chap among her adult friends. But this all adds to the warmth, charm and realism of these books. This isn't an animal book outright, such as Humphrey's Great-Great-Great Book of Stories by Betty G Birney, as here the animal only acts as smallest impetus to a book with a much bigger subject to look at. It again has to be recommended, for its depth, pacing, adventure, and all-encompassing wit. Lovely stuff.

I must thank the publishers for my review copy.

If you want to read a completely different book featuring a rabbit, you can't get much more different than Kenny and the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi.

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You can read more book reviews or buy The Great Rabbit Rescue by Katie Davies at Amazon.com.

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