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Brer Rabbit
Brer Rabbit Book
1975 Hardcover edition published by Purnell, in Great Britain.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1948
9 people are currently reading
182 people want to read
About the author
Enid Blyton
5,128 books6,289 followersSee also:
Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek)
Enida Blaitona (Latvian)
Энид Блайтон (Russian)
Inid Blajton (Serbian)
Інід Блайтон (Ukrainian)
Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English author of children's books.
Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.
Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.
According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.
See also her pen name Mary Pollock
Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek)
Enida Blaitona (Latvian)
Энид Блайтон (Russian)
Inid Blajton (Serbian)
Інід Блайтон (Ukrainian)
Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English author of children's books.
Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.
Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.
According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.
See also her pen name Mary Pollock
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 25, 2015
Another venture in the reading project I'm either calling 'Childhood Revisited' or 'Paul's Midlife Crisis'...
Ah, Brer Rabbit! I had truly forgotten what an evil little git you are! It's clear to me now, after rereading these classic tales, that you are obviously an avatar of Loki.
Seriously, I'm considering doing a webcomic that retells these stories but with humans instead of animals in all the roles. It will only be then that people realise how completely reprehensible some of Brer Rabbits 'tricks' are. I mean, in one story, he NAILS BRER FOX'S TAIL TO THE ROOF OF HIS HOUSE! WHILE HE'S STILL ATTACHED TO IT!
Of course, now I'm wondering what part of the human equivalent to Brer Fox's anatomy the human version of Brer Rabbit would nail to the roof in the absence of a tail... Gotta go now; my eyes are watering too much to type...
Ah, Brer Rabbit! I had truly forgotten what an evil little git you are! It's clear to me now, after rereading these classic tales, that you are obviously an avatar of Loki.
Seriously, I'm considering doing a webcomic that retells these stories but with humans instead of animals in all the roles. It will only be then that people realise how completely reprehensible some of Brer Rabbits 'tricks' are. I mean, in one story, he NAILS BRER FOX'S TAIL TO THE ROOF OF HIS HOUSE! WHILE HE'S STILL ATTACHED TO IT!
Of course, now I'm wondering what part of the human equivalent to Brer Fox's anatomy the human version of Brer Rabbit would nail to the roof in the absence of a tail... Gotta go now; my eyes are watering too much to type...
April 18, 2022
Rereading your childhood favourites can be eye-opening. You can never really be sure how you'll feel about it when you go back there again. I feel like I read this one a lot as a kid, yet I had only super vague recollections of the stories as I made my way through.
Overall, the stories were mostly what I expected. The notorious scamp Brer Rabbit causing havoc around the neighbourhood and playing pranks on his frenemies Brer Wolf and Brer Fox. Short stories, easy to consume. As an adult, I noticed that the stories were published slightly out of order and would reference things that hadn't happened yet, and also that I couldn't make sense of some of the worldbuilding, which is probably something you just have to forgive. Like, rabbits eat meat? Also, which creatures are sentient and which are not? The moral, of course, is that Brer Rabbit is a little shit and you shouldn't trust him at all. But, funny.
The other thing that crossed my mind finally all these years is what on Earth does 'Brer' mean? I think as a kid I assumed it was a title of respect, like 'Mr'. But there was also some animals referred to as 'Mr', so it was a bit strange but I never pursued it before. On this reading, I googled it.
'Brer Rabbit' is from 'Br'er Rabbit' or 'Brother Rabbit' and is a character whose stories have been passed down in the oral tradition of African storytellers, particularly African-American and in the Caribbean. A similar story has also been recognised among the Cherokee people. The stories were collected and published for white audiences by Joel Chandler Harris, a journalist in Georgia, and Enid Blyton, as well as being adapted in 1946 by Disney in the movie 'The Song of the South'.
I couldn't find any information about where Enid Blyton first heard the stories before adapting them for her children's stories - there was very little in my brief Google search, just lots of links to where you can buy the books. I guess it could be as simple as she had read the ones published by Joel Chandler Harris. It is problematic - and I imagine she and Harris were not the only ones - that they have used another culture for their own profit and after I found that out it kinda left a bad taste in my mouth. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure no financial compensation ever filtered back to the people where Harris heard the original stories.
I'm working through a secondhand collection of Blyton stories and I know there will be more Brer Rabbit stories - not sure how I feel about that right now!
Overall, the stories were mostly what I expected. The notorious scamp Brer Rabbit causing havoc around the neighbourhood and playing pranks on his frenemies Brer Wolf and Brer Fox. Short stories, easy to consume. As an adult, I noticed that the stories were published slightly out of order and would reference things that hadn't happened yet, and also that I couldn't make sense of some of the worldbuilding, which is probably something you just have to forgive. Like, rabbits eat meat? Also, which creatures are sentient and which are not? The moral, of course, is that Brer Rabbit is a little shit and you shouldn't trust him at all. But, funny.
The other thing that crossed my mind finally all these years is what on Earth does 'Brer' mean? I think as a kid I assumed it was a title of respect, like 'Mr'. But there was also some animals referred to as 'Mr', so it was a bit strange but I never pursued it before. On this reading, I googled it.
'Brer Rabbit' is from 'Br'er Rabbit' or 'Brother Rabbit' and is a character whose stories have been passed down in the oral tradition of African storytellers, particularly African-American and in the Caribbean. A similar story has also been recognised among the Cherokee people. The stories were collected and published for white audiences by Joel Chandler Harris, a journalist in Georgia, and Enid Blyton, as well as being adapted in 1946 by Disney in the movie 'The Song of the South'.
I couldn't find any information about where Enid Blyton first heard the stories before adapting them for her children's stories - there was very little in my brief Google search, just lots of links to where you can buy the books. I guess it could be as simple as she had read the ones published by Joel Chandler Harris. It is problematic - and I imagine she and Harris were not the only ones - that they have used another culture for their own profit and after I found that out it kinda left a bad taste in my mouth. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure no financial compensation ever filtered back to the people where Harris heard the original stories.
I'm working through a secondhand collection of Blyton stories and I know there will be more Brer Rabbit stories - not sure how I feel about that right now!
June 7, 2016
"I was bred and born in a briar-bush, Brer Fox - bred and born in a briar-bush!"
Brer Rabbit is a ruthless serial trickster in a cut-throat fox-eat-rabbit world of ruthless tricksters. He has his origins in ancient African folklore (see Anansi the spider), via slavery, the American South and Disney. British author Enid Blyton, creator of The Famous Five, The Secret Seven and Noddy, started retelling the stories in the 1930s, with this volume coming out in 1963.
It was first read to me at bedtimes by my mum. The stories are light and breezy and there's great fun to be had in guessing how Brer Rabbit's and the other characters' tricks will play out, and who will come out on top as they trick each other and trick each other again. It's usually Brer Rabbit, who - and this is key - uses brain, not brawn.
It's worth noting that the tar baby story also appears, in similar form, in the Jatakas, a 4th-century BCE Indian collection of stories depicting the Buddha in former lifetimes. Apparently, a similar story also exists in ancient native North American culture, along with other stories that are similar to tales here. This could imply at least two possibilities. Do all human cultures share stories with similar basic elements, which manifest themselves as expressions of basic human needs? Or is it evidence of early cross-fertilization between cultures which have since evolved, divided, sub-divided and moved about across the globe?
Volumes could, and have, been written on this fascinating subject but the good news is that absolutely none of it need pass through your mind as you read and enjoy Enid Blyton's wonderful Brer Rabbit. It won't be passing through my son's mind when I read these stories to him.
Brer Rabbit is a ruthless serial trickster in a cut-throat fox-eat-rabbit world of ruthless tricksters. He has his origins in ancient African folklore (see Anansi the spider), via slavery, the American South and Disney. British author Enid Blyton, creator of The Famous Five, The Secret Seven and Noddy, started retelling the stories in the 1930s, with this volume coming out in 1963.
It was first read to me at bedtimes by my mum. The stories are light and breezy and there's great fun to be had in guessing how Brer Rabbit's and the other characters' tricks will play out, and who will come out on top as they trick each other and trick each other again. It's usually Brer Rabbit, who - and this is key - uses brain, not brawn.
It's worth noting that the tar baby story also appears, in similar form, in the Jatakas, a 4th-century BCE Indian collection of stories depicting the Buddha in former lifetimes. Apparently, a similar story also exists in ancient native North American culture, along with other stories that are similar to tales here. This could imply at least two possibilities. Do all human cultures share stories with similar basic elements, which manifest themselves as expressions of basic human needs? Or is it evidence of early cross-fertilization between cultures which have since evolved, divided, sub-divided and moved about across the globe?
Volumes could, and have, been written on this fascinating subject but the good news is that absolutely none of it need pass through your mind as you read and enjoy Enid Blyton's wonderful Brer Rabbit. It won't be passing through my son's mind when I read these stories to him.
April 4, 2018
My least favourite Enid Blyton book. Not a huge fan of animal stories and this collection just bored or annoyed me. No likeable characters, all just trying to get the better of each other. This collection was not in the right order, they referred to stories that had not be read yet, so more careful editing needed.
May 14, 2015
I loved this book and couldn't stop laughing at all the clever tricks that brainy Brer Rabbit used to get the better of gullible Brer Wolf, Brer Fox and Brer Bear amongst others! It is perfect proof that brain is better than brawn! A philosophy which I have lived my life by so far!
Read
January 22, 2011this is a book about a very cheeky rabbit called Brer Rabbit . cleverer and faster than his friends, he enjoys playing tricks on them,but ends up having to say sorry a lot of time
May 14, 2013
Hilarious, lots of fun, extremely naughty and completely non-politically correct. Great for kids and parents with a sense of homour.
November 25, 2015
Fun.
Dark.
Rabbity.
Dark.
Rabbity.
August 13, 2023
I’m currently on holiday abroad visiting family and have sadly only been able to bring a few physical books. Unfortunately ( or rather, fortunately ) I’ve hit a bit of a reading streak and am finishing books incredibly quick. Therefore, I needed something new to read and quick… The thought of reading off of my tiny phone screen makes me convulse, bookshops here have limited English language options and I truly don’t feel like reading in Azeri so I decided there was one thing left to do. I ransacked my Grandpas library and found a couple English books that tickled my fancy. Two of them being my old childhood favourites, Brer Rabbit. Now, this little trip down memory lane was truly amazing, I recommend everyone go and revisit their childhood bookshelves and pick out a comforting book, whether you read from cover to cover or simply flip through it. Each story still felt special and the memory’s attached to them doubled my enjoyment. Wonderful experience!
September 5, 2020
Enid Blyton's spin on the whole Brer Rabbit character - invented in America back in the late 19th century - is a typically lively and warm-hearted collection of short stories that are packed to the brim with mischief, misadventure, and mayhem. Brer Rabbit is a character who seems to make it his business to make the lives of his friends and foes in the animal kingdom a misery, by constantly pulling pranks on them and generally doing them out of something, most usually their food. The pranks range from harmless tricks to pouring boiling water on them - yes, it's that vicious at times! Even when I read these as a kid I remember feeling huge sympathy for Brer Fox, Brer Wolf and others, and the same is true now. But they're fantastic stories that spring to life off the page and never become tiresome despite the repetitive structure of them. Three more collections followed...
September 10, 2018
My wonderful and kind and lovely and caring and still sorely missed Grandad used to read the comics to me in Gorton, Manchester in the late 1960"s. That's all the review you need.
May 3, 2023
Very dated stories about animals being incredibly mean to each other. Nope.
April 21, 2014
Little more than a load of rubbish
5 October 2012
I guess jumping over to a random Enid Blyton book after reading a very heavy book on the Vietnam War doesn't necessarily relax you, particularly if you find the book that you have jumped over to to be complete and utter rubbish. What I have learnt from this experience is that a book that is almost painful to read can be just as hard as a book that confronts you with the horrors of life. In fact I found this book to be so painful that I actually had to put it down for a day before I went back to finishing it. Okay, you may ask, why didn't I simply abandon it? Well, I guess because I really don't like abandoning books, even though I have done so in the past.
This book is a collection of short stories about a group of animals. We have Brer Rabbit, Brer Terrapin (a fresh water turtle), Brer Fox, Brer Wolf, and Brer Bear (I have no idea what this whole brer rubbish is, and that was one of the things that I found really painful to read, as well as the writing style). Anyway Brer Rabbit is a very mischievous and naughty creature that pretty much goes around playing tricks on people and getting away with it. In particular he loves going around and teasing Brer Fox, and most of the book is about how Brer Rabbit is always getting one up on Brer Fox.
Now, what I really and truly hated about this book was simply that Brer Rabbit is not the type of character that I would want anybody to model themselves after. He is deceitful, disrespectful, mischievous, and simply a pain in the butt. He is the type of character that really exists only to make other people's lives a misery. He gets his thrills out of playing tricks and jokes on people, making them incredibly angry, and getting away with it. Not only would I classify him as an antagonist, but he always gets away with his actions. To put it simply, not only is there no justice in the book, and you are supposed to sympathise with this horrible little rabbit.
The only redeeming feature about this book was the story about how Mr Lion went to a restaurant to have some soup, and then said he couldn't eat it. The entire story had the staff running around trying to figure out what was wrong with the soup and why Mr Lion could not eat it. In the end you find out that it was because he didn't have a spoon. A joke, but a joke that one would consider to be groan worthy at best.
5 October 2012
I guess jumping over to a random Enid Blyton book after reading a very heavy book on the Vietnam War doesn't necessarily relax you, particularly if you find the book that you have jumped over to to be complete and utter rubbish. What I have learnt from this experience is that a book that is almost painful to read can be just as hard as a book that confronts you with the horrors of life. In fact I found this book to be so painful that I actually had to put it down for a day before I went back to finishing it. Okay, you may ask, why didn't I simply abandon it? Well, I guess because I really don't like abandoning books, even though I have done so in the past.
This book is a collection of short stories about a group of animals. We have Brer Rabbit, Brer Terrapin (a fresh water turtle), Brer Fox, Brer Wolf, and Brer Bear (I have no idea what this whole brer rubbish is, and that was one of the things that I found really painful to read, as well as the writing style). Anyway Brer Rabbit is a very mischievous and naughty creature that pretty much goes around playing tricks on people and getting away with it. In particular he loves going around and teasing Brer Fox, and most of the book is about how Brer Rabbit is always getting one up on Brer Fox.
Now, what I really and truly hated about this book was simply that Brer Rabbit is not the type of character that I would want anybody to model themselves after. He is deceitful, disrespectful, mischievous, and simply a pain in the butt. He is the type of character that really exists only to make other people's lives a misery. He gets his thrills out of playing tricks and jokes on people, making them incredibly angry, and getting away with it. Not only would I classify him as an antagonist, but he always gets away with his actions. To put it simply, not only is there no justice in the book, and you are supposed to sympathise with this horrible little rabbit.
The only redeeming feature about this book was the story about how Mr Lion went to a restaurant to have some soup, and then said he couldn't eat it. The entire story had the staff running around trying to figure out what was wrong with the soup and why Mr Lion could not eat it. In the end you find out that it was because he didn't have a spoon. A joke, but a joke that one would consider to be groan worthy at best.
November 8, 2023
A wonderful, humorous collection of short stories for children.
I grew up with this Enid Blyton series of short stories set on a smart rabbit's adventures against an evil fox (see the modern version of Peter rabbit). I loved then as a child in the 1960's and they introduced me to reading. I still think these have a place in modern times as they introduce attitudes of right and wrong, and good triumphs evil set in a wonderful humorous way. Then again I have a 1960's to seventy's pov.
I grew up with this Enid Blyton series of short stories set on a smart rabbit's adventures against an evil fox (see the modern version of Peter rabbit). I loved then as a child in the 1960's and they introduced me to reading. I still think these have a place in modern times as they introduce attitudes of right and wrong, and good triumphs evil set in a wonderful humorous way. Then again I have a 1960's to seventy's pov.
March 3, 2019
A fun tale of a mischievous little rabbit; a great story for anyone who is looking to appease their inner child!
Not Blyton's best work, but as someone who grew up reading her novels, this tale is still very close to my heart!
Not Blyton's best work, but as someone who grew up reading her novels, this tale is still very close to my heart!
April 12, 2009
A bit repeditive but good all the same for a childrens book
May 21, 2013
I read,all of these as a child,and now as an adult,bought a new copy to re read..
August 13, 2013
very readable but Brer Rabbit is a bit of a little shit!
October 7, 2019
Brer Rabbit is an asshole
August 20, 2010
great story.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews