The Siege of White Deer Park

The Animals of Farthing Wood #5

by Colin Dann

The animals of White Deer Park face their greatest danger yet as a silent and deadly predator begins to terrorise the inhabitants of the park, leaving them all fearing for their lives.

Genres: Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Young Adult, Adventure, Fantasy

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Colin Dann (born 1943 in Richmond, Surrey (now part of London)) is an English author. He is best known for his The Animals of Farthing Wood series of books, which was subsequently made into an animated series.

Dann worked at the publishing firm William Collins Sons & Co. for thirteen years, and his first novel, The Animals of Farthing Wood, was written during this period. The original cover for this and a dozen others was painted by Portal artist Frances Broomfield.

Colin Dann, recipient of Britain's Arts Council National Award for Children's Literature, is also the author of six sequels and a prequel to The Animals of Farthing Wood.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Naturalistic animal fiction meets folklore in this fifth entry in Colin Dann's The Animals of Farthing Wood series which, despite its name, largely takes place in the eponymous White Deer Park. The story opens in the third winter since the companions made their dangerous trek from their doomed former home - destroyed by human development - to the safety of the park, and many of their number are gone. The survivors - Fox, Vixen, Badger, Tawny Owl, Adder, Toad, Weasel and Whistler the heron - confront a terrible new danger, in the form of a mysterious, secretive large cat, which has moved to the area, and has begun stalking the wildlife in the park. The younger foxes, led by Fox and Vixen's son Friendly, begin a campaign to track down and defeat this deadly enemy, but they meet with limited success, and in the back and forth of the conflict, many animals die. The Warden gets involved, to protect the park's deer, but even he is not successful. Only the call of a female cat saves the day, as the vicious feline predator laying siege to White Deer Park moves away of his own accord, in search of a mate...

For an animal lover, Colin Dann doesn't seem to care that much for cats. The Warden's pet cat, in In the Grip of Winter , doesn't come off looking very well in her interactions with Badger, and this cat is depicted as the kind of brutal, malicious predator incapable of understanding something like the Oath of Mutual Protection, taken by the animal friends in the first book, the eponymous The Animals of Farthing Wood . Leaving that aside, I can understand why many readers express confusion about the nature of this predator, as the UK is not known for having large cat species. As it turns out however, there have been many sightings of large cats over the years, and there have been a number that have been captured. A Canadian lynx was shot in Devon in 1903, a puma was captured alive in the Scottish Highlands in 1980, and an ocelot or serval was shot on the Isle of Wight in 1994. All kinds of wild cats have been found roaming the British countryside, over the years, and many of them seem to have been exotic pets that were abandoned, or escapees from zoos. That said, there are also mysterious cats purported to roam in various areas - the Beast of Bodmin, the Fen Tiger, the Beast of Bevendean - that have never been found. Cryptozoology enthusiasts maintain that some of them are a hold over from the last Ice Age, and have survived in secret in the wilds of the UK. Whatever one thinks of this idea, it seems to be the one Dann favors, as his feline predator claims that his kind had never been detected by humans, and were "survivors of the Old Animal Lore."

I enjoyed The Siege of White Deer Park, although I didn't think it quite the equal of the previous entries in the series. One of my favorite parts was probably the poignant moment when Badger, unable to cope with idea of his friend Mole being dead, insists on thinking of Mole's son Mossy as Mole, addressing him accordingly. It was lovely that the other animals, understanding the issue, played along. I also enjoyed seeing Adder meet a lady snake who was able to rattle him! Recommended to fans of the series.

[Kirsti · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I finished this book, I decided to read a few online reviews to kind of share my love for this series. I was a little surprised to read this was the least popular of the Animals of Farthing Wood books, because it was one of my favorites. What IS the Cat exactly? Why have no humans ever encountered one? It was such an intriguing concept as a child, and no less so as an adult.

Moving on to the next book, five stars!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Siege of White Deer parks returns fans to those left of the original Farthing Wood animals, though sufficient time has passed that several have now passed on, though many of the originals have offspring who take greater roles now. The residents of White Deer Park are forced to attempt a battle against a mysterious species of big cat, who has been hunting their kind in secret, and it serves as a good reality check as the previous problems solves with force and fighting cannot be utilized in this instance.
By far the most entertaining parts of the book involve Adder's encounters with the she-viper Sinuous, which are nothing short of hilarious.

[Lara Vehar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one but I feel like the story was a bit odd. The entire story is that a big cat enters the park and it kills a lot of animals- the animals have to stop it and make it leave the park. It's an interesting premise, especially because the animals are dealing with a big cat that is quiet and fast- they have never seen anything like this before so there's an added element of mystery and drive there. It also kills a lot of animals- but the deaths are glossed over pretty fast- even by these book's standards. I mean Hare's son's mate is killed and he is upset for a really fast second then it doesn't show it again. And one of Bold's (fox that died at the end of the previous book) cubs is killed - granted he is an adult but his death was still pretty graphic since he was still alive when the cat took him into a tree but then has his neck broken when he is dropped from the tree- you would think that this would mean that Fox would avenge him - and he is still this big hero and the entire books seems to set either him either his son Friendly (who caused the death of Husky, Bold's son but he seems to move on pretty darn fast) as the heroes- but no - in the end there is another cat - female this time outside of the park and she calls to him - and since he wants to mate he leaves and follows her to her home which is far away from the park. The entire book seemed pretty slow and suspensful only for it to get resolved in 5 pages or so. I also thought that Badger wouldn't make it by the end of the book because he loves to say that he is old and is going to die soon - he even wants to get killed by the cat instead of his friends several times so he could do one last big thing before he dies and he ... just doesn't die in the end- he lives but is not sure if he will survive another winter. It's a pretty mediocre book though there were parts that I really enjoyed and I will still read the others.

[Bobby Binnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now, I'm a really massive fan of Farthing Wood, especially the TV Series, and this is the first Farthing Wood Book I have Read Properly. Now, the plot consists of White Deer Park and a Mysterious Cat-like beast in the park, even the Warden has to deal with it. The thing is, is that I read this specifically because this was the only book that was not in the TV Series.

The ending was rather confusing, considering it is never explained what "The Beast" exactly is, is it an Alien?

I did enjoy parts of it, and I have personally written a letter to the Author. He said that he was sorry I found it confusing. But he did say that the beast was indeed inspired by those mysterious black cats in the UK.

[Casimir Laski · Rating 2 out of 5]

The fifth novel in The Animals of Farthing Wood series sees the dwindling members of the aging original cast, their offspring, and newfound allies coming up against an enigmatic, bloodthirsty creature known only as “the beast,” who has begun stalking the boundaries of White Deer Park. Unfortunately, despite the interesting premise and effective use of tension throughout most of the story, this novel is resolved in a cheap, rushed deus ex machina, undercutting one of the central appeals of the entire series: that the titular animals are able to thrive and endure by overcoming their differences and finding creative solutions to the challenges they face. [4/10]

[Crazy_smiler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished a few days ago. But needed to reread the ending. Was very tired at the time. Kind of odd ending. I felt it glossed over losses too much. Then again the series kind of does in general.

[Isaac Blackwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book but nowhere near as good as the previous two. Some nice new characters in way of Mossy(Mole's son) and a female adder. The villain, a big cat, was well done and it's mysterious nature really helped sell the tension that this book was going for.

However I did feel the book began to drag in the later half. I feel it was also a poor choice to kill off Bold's son as it seemed to undermine Bold's sacrifice somewhat. I know he had more then one cub but only one that was an actual character and he was killed off unceremoniously.

Also the ending of the book was just plain bad. After all the time everyone spend in fear of the cat and trying to fight/defend themselves from this unstoppable force the villainies cat...lost interest in hunting because it's mate shouted at it to come home. Seriously?

I'm sorry but this is a terrible and truly infuriating ending and really shows that the series is beginning to overstay it's welcome.

[Lone Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fifth instalment of the ‘Farthing Wood’ series sees the Farthing Wood animals, most of whom are now growing old, facing a new threat in their supposedly safe nature reserve home. A large, unknown predator has taken up residence in the park and is feeding on the famous white deer – but it won’t hesitate to kill smaller creatures, too.

I enjoyed the story, but found it unlikely that the Great Cat is a naturally-occurring British species that humans have just never discovered (and none of the wild animals have ever heard of either). I was hoping it would be revealed that the cat was a puma or a leopard, a descendant of the exotic pets released into the wild years ago – this would have have made much more sense to me, and also shown the impact non-native species can have on ecosystems. But for some reason the author went with never-before-seen species, instead.

[Jake Collins · Rating 1 out of 5]

As anticipated, this book seems entirely redundant after the last couple of entries in the series, and the complete lack of a proper ending to the situation renders everything that the characters have done in the story absolutely pointless.

[Jebin]

Loved it.

[Sarah A · Rating 4 out of 5]

The scariest farthing wood animals book. Fascinating and challenging to the natural predators, a new predator moves in to endanger our beloved friends.

[A.R. Collins · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm afraid I found this book at least as boring as the first two in the series. It's also extremely badly plotted, and has to be a contender for the worst ending ever.

[Felix · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never have I seen an ending so badly done.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

For serious, this one was TERRIFYING. I loved it.