The spirited mouse star from Poppy must now face life after Ragweed (her fiance who was killed by an owl). Accompanied once again by Brian Floca's witty yet pastoral pencil drawings, this is a sequel worthy of its predecessor. Phooey.' The anthropomorphic characterization is spot-on: Ereth Rye, chafing in the shadow of his older brother Valerian, Rye's father, who will remind some readers of Father in Robert Lawson's Rabbit Hill. Nothing but slug splat stew and toad jam. The happy ending has a slight undertone of sadness, as Ereth, a misanthropist to the core, realizes that he loves Poppy, a thought so distasteful that he complains bitterly, 'Love.

beavers is decided by the sudden appearance of Ereth, whose quills even the beavers fear. The final desperate and one-sided battle of mice vs. After Rye is captured by the beavers and trapped inside their lodge, Poppy leads an expedition to save him, and his family, galvanized by Poppy's bravery, plans to destroy the dam. Canad, a sly takeoff on the slick-talking, amoral businessman, the master of cliché, who promises everything but gives nothing ('a stranger is just a friend you haven't met. When Poppy finds Ragweed's family, they are in the midst of a crisis: beavers have flooded their brook, forcing them to move, and even their new home is under threat. Poppy meets a charming golden mouse who looks like Ragweed, and who in fact is later revealed to be his younger brother, Rye. Accompanying Poppy on her expedition is Ereth the porcupine-grumpy, smelly, foul-mouthed, and hostile to change, but a good friend under duress. In Poppy, the eponymous mouse heroine lost her first love, Ragweed, and now she is journeying to tell his family of his unfortunate fate. Purchase: IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Poppy and rye series