The Great Redwall Feast

The Great Redwall Feast, by Brian Jacques, is a sweet fantasy story about a group of animals who plan and prepare a feast for their Abbott. They must do it all in secret, as it is a surprise. They also must deal with Bungo, a sneaky young mole with a huge appetite who makes mischief as he tries to steal food. Father Abbott goes on a quest for they day, saying that he quests for Bobbatan Weary Nod. The animals are all too happy to have him leave so they may make their preparations, so no one even asks what the quest is about. They finish the feast preparations, even with little Bungo trying to get in their way.
When Father Abbott returns, the party lasts all night, and the animals are very happy. It is not until Father Abbott falls show more asleep that they discover a scroll, and on it, a riddle. Bobbatan Weary Nod actually translates to Abbott’s Banquet, and Weary Nod to Ready Now. All of the animals realize that Father Abbott knew about the feast all along, and have a great laugh. They had all thought him to be old and silly, and the reality is he was smarter than they. The moral is that older people, though they may be slower, are not necessarily stupider. The line is, “Sometimes it’s not just the young who know best” (64).
The book is written all in rhyme. All of the dialect is written phonetically, which adds credibility to the setting of the story, which is Northern England. The story could have been written about people, but the fact that the author made this into a fable is more fun. All of the characters share the same trait as the animal to whom they were assigned, for example the mice are busy and the little mole is sneaky. The plot seems a bit simple until the dramatic twist in the end. However, it is an engaging book for it simple plot. The language adds to the frenzy of preparation, and onomatopoeia helps the reader feel as if he is in the story.
This is a book for a younger student, but even an older student could appreciate the riddle at the end. I would have liked it better if the riddle had not been so easily solved, and I would have had to think about it and try to solve it. show less

The Great Redwall Feast is a book about a group of rodents that wanted to throw a party for the abbot. It follows the development of the party and the distractions to keep the abbot from finding out before time.
I found the book to be a little harder to read then most children's books. It was a very good read and the author writes wonderful books for older children.

Redwall Abbey is thrown into chaos as the creatures work to throw an amazing feast for the Abbot. RESPONSE: I love Jacques' Redwall series, and this book is a great version for young readers. I loved seeing the mice illustrated, and the verse is overall pretty neat. A few forced rhymes, but it works as a whole. THEMES/CONCEPTS: celebrations, religion, anthropomorphism, secret-keeping, teamwork

This is a kids book but written in verse and is a bit complex, Seems to have modelled itself a bit on Wind in the Willows. Great illustrations ...and that's the reason that i bought the book. I never did try reading it to my son....I don't think he would have been interested. But now, as i'm downsizing my library, it is one of the casualties. Two stars from me.

Told in rhyme, author Brian Jacques shares the story of a group of animals, as they prepare for a celebration. The story is set at the Abbey of Redwall, and the animals plan to honor their abbot. Everyone works to gather flowers, prepare the food, and decorate the hall. We see otters, mice, squirrels, rabbits, moles, and many other animals. This story has 64 pages of text, and each part shares its own rhyme: "Chewing and chattering, munching and laughing, nibbling, sipping, gobbling, quaffing. "Hey, try some of that!" "Here, have more of this!" Bungo gives Constance a big sticky kiss. Here's strawberry fizz, there's October ale, and dandelion cordial, by the pail. Hot damson pudding, cold junket sweet, warm blueberry scones, they're show more nice to eat." This book will certainly keep its reader busy, especially when read aloud, as many parts can appear to be almost like tongue-twisters. Young listeners, I imagine, would love to hear the sounds of the words being spoken in rhyme. Christopher Denise's illustrations are wonderful, as we are able to witness every step of the process in the story. We see a team of mice decorating a giant cake, only to shoo away one animal trying to have a secret sample. We see babies being bathed in barrels, splashing away. The party scenes show animals playing a menagerie of musical instruments, as everyone dances the night away. The colorful illustrations are displayed alongside text stanzas, so that most of the pages are filled with text. The drawings, themselves, show warm, rich colors, and on each page, readers can see the busy movements of all the animals. This story provides plenty of action for a young reader to become immersed in. show less

*Sigh*
This was a lofty undertaking, but came out poorly executed. I liked the pictures, though.