The Gnats of Knotty Pine: A Heartwarming Story About Tiny Bugs and Animals for Kids

by Bill Peet

The animals of Knotty Pine won't listen to the gnats' suggestion for keeping the hunters away, but learn to appreciate the tiny bugs when they're able to make the hunters "buzz off."

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Kids

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Bill Peet was an American children's book illustrator and a story writer for Disney Studios. He joined Disney in 1937 and worked on The Jungle Book, Song of the South, Cinderella, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, Goliath II, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, Pinocchio, Fantasia, The Three Caballeros, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and other stories.

After successes developing short stories for Disney, Peet had his first book published, Hubert's Hair Raising Adventure.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Bill Peet classic.

The moose holds a meeting in the forest to brainstorm ways of evading the hunters coming to the woods the next day. The gnats say they have a plan, but no one listens and they blow them off. The animals hide waiting to be slaughtered by the gross and disgusting hunters. Bill does a lot to make them gross. One license plate made me laugh saying Ogres. I guess we know how Bill felt about hunting.

Needles to say the gnats save the day. I don’t think the story was as good as Bill normally does. He was preaching here, which is fine, but it doesn’t really add to the story.

The nephew did like seeing all the animals and when the moose was hiding and his antlers were showing, he was laughing his head off. I told him that’s like him playing hide and seek and telling everyone where he is. He gave this book 3 stars too.

[SaraKat · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was on my school's reading list under "citizenship" for our pillars of character. This is a heavy-handed anti-hunting propaganda piece. And that is coming from someone who despises trophy hunting. This book totally neglects the circle-of-life of nature and even all of the carnivores and herbivores were sitting there together bemoaning the start of hunting season. I think it dumbs down the topic way too much and children are done a disservice by learning this Disney-fied version of nature where everyone gets along and no one has to eat. It is also irritating to me because the animals are all so mean to each other and smack down the ideas of others without thought. I don't see how this book shows citizenship. The gnats save the day, which is a victory for the little people, but they seem to do it for the fun of it and not really to save everyone. And the harsh reality of nature is that some of those animals are going to die anyway from starvation and weather, so hunting isn't an evil to be banned, but a tool for conservationists to regulate and use to help keep an ecosystem healthy. But the people shooting at endangered species for trophy hunts can kiss my butt.

Bottom line: the story isn't good enough to justify the lack of good information.

[Skylar Burris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part way through this book my daughter began to make sniffling noises. "What's wrong?" I asked. "But I WANT to be able to hunt!" she said. "I want to shoot a chicken so I can have something to eat." Now, my child's responses to stories have been anything but average, but that may nevertheless give you an idea of how incredibly heavy-handed the anti-hunting message of this book is. Or it may just mean that my child is more aware of the circle-of-life than your average four year old (or your average adult for that matter).

It might have been a cute story were it not for the over-the-top black-and-white moralizing of certain scenes. I have liked some of Bill Peet's other stories, and what is interesting about them is that they are not overly moralistic: often they are just stories, and the moral sometimes doesn't unfold as expected, but they still leave you (or the child) thinking. That was not the case here, however, where the moral was pretty much written in giant letters.

I do like the idea of the "least of these" being the victors, however, showing that ingenuity is more valuable than brute force.

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Gnats of Knotty Pine” is a brilliant classic book from the imaginative mind of Bill Peet and it is about how a group of animals must figure out a way to escape from the hunters. “The Gnats of Knotty Pine” is a wonderful book about showing the nature of hunting a negative light that many children will be able to enjoy for many years.

Bill Peet has done a great job at both illustrating and writing this book as he brings out the message that hunting is a cruel sport for animals as the animals have to hide to save their lives. Children will easily see the cruelness of hunting and they will learn that hurting animals is never a good sport at all and will help children respect the animals of the forest more often. Bill Peet’s illustrations are beautiful as the woods are truly lush and green and the animals have human expressions such as anger whenever they are arguing about what to do about the hunters and you can see the scowls on their faces. Also, the animals’ expressions whenever they are scared are truly realistic and effective looking as the audience can get a feel about how the animals feel when they are being hunted down for game.

Parents should know that the other animals were a bit rude towards the gnats when the gnats tried to give the other animals their ideas about how to get rid of the hunters. Parents should tell their children that it is not polite to dismiss anyone else’s idea that seems to be different from theirs. Children should experience various and different opinions from other children so that way they can look at a situation from a different angle and the other animals should have listened to what the gnats have to say about their plan, even if it does not work.

“The Gnats of Knotty Pine” is a brilliant book about how hunting is portrayed as being a negative sport to play with and it will have many children learn about the consequences of hunting for sport. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children might be frightened with the hunting scenes.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of those books where if you take the time to find the dedication and read it you will not only be impressed by its presentation but you will also find that you already know what the matter of the story is going to be about. And if you come from a hunting family, especially those that hunt to add meat to the table, then you will more than likely want to steer clear of this book.

The story starts off with a bunch of animals gathering together to explain what they should do to survive the oncoming hunting season. In this particular sense Peet didn't do too much to show the hunting seasons as well as the regulations that are used to direct them but instead makes it out as a one-grab-free-for-all and uses the typical "hunters thus unbalancing the context of the book. To worsen the off-kilter nature of the book even the animals cannot seem to agree while the fox who seems to be the most hunted and killed off creature portrayed in the book seems care less for his peers.

The illustrations aren't some of the best and there are a few spots where the change in depiction was a bit weird such as the only child being included in the meeting. Otherwise there was also the weird switching of bodily personality provided by the moose. Out of the majority of the cast of animals that was shown the bobcat in the tree was the most amusing and the one to keep an eye out for as it was a mix of Peet's normally expressive cats and just a nice break from the surliness of the rest of the scene.

All in all if you are unyielding on looking at why hunting can be good and/or the need to kill for meat than this book may be of interest in helping to pass on an anti-hunting motif. Otherwise it is probably the highest recommended Peet book to avoid in the long run.

[Jo ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the message from the author at the start of the book:

To my young friends who love toy guns with the hope that you won't grow up to love real guns with real bullets that kill real things.

Obviously another wonderful animal friendly book from Bill Peet. :) This story has a strong anti-hunting message. The animals of the forest gather together to try and come up with a plan for when the hunters arrive. The gnats of the forest come too and want to tell everyone their plan to save the animals but since they're so small, nobody wants to listen to them. The story ends on a happy note with the gnats saving the day. A great message with the little guys coming out the winners. I loved when the gnats formed a large V for victory at the end! <3

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

An old story, but a good one. Be prepared to field questions about hunting with your kids after this.

[David Corleto-Bales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly subversive anti-hunting book, meant for children. Good for all animal-liberation groups.

[Alissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually don't put picture books on goodreads simply because of the high number we go through with our kids here at our house, but I couldn't resist putting this one on because of the infestation of gnats here in our neighborhood/community. In this book the gnats are the heros. It gave me the idea that gnats might just be good for something . . . maybe--at least in a fictional world. Don't read this book if you are pro-hunting. You might be offended. :)

[Emelda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great for two reasons. The biggest being the awesome, arching anti-hunter theme and the other being that the gnats save the larger animals in the forest. Despite the fact that they are too small for the bullets to hurt them and even though the other animals are ignoring them, the gnats save the other animals from the hunters.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has always loved animals and loathed the idea of hunting as a "sport," this book had me cheering. It's more the message than the characters that stand out - none of them imprinted on my childhood heart, maybe because the moose always reminds me of a human calling the "meetings" to order - but all the same, it's a great one.

[Sonya Huser · Rating 3 out of 5]

As hunting season opens, the animals of Knotty Pine are rescued by an unlikely swarm of gnats who make sure the hunters understand they are not welcome there.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

to this day I think of this book when I see gnats

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Like the animal illustrations, especially the bobcat. The anti-hunting message is too heavy-handed.

[Joy Keil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Peet's drawings! This was also a cute story...

[Oxalis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book that teaches teamwork and including even the smallest organism in one's view of a balanced ecosystem.

[Terryann Saint]

Simply love everything Bill Peet ever did.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one-dimensional, pedantic screed against hunting doesn't acknowledge ecological or food-based reasons why people hunt, and is hypocritical and unbelievable in its presentation of animals gathering together to talk about the upcoming hunting season. Are we just supposed to pretend that the predators are vegetarians, so that we can go along with the story?

The illustrations are delightful, as usual, but they can't do anything to save this book. Other Bill Peet picture books share environmental and moral messages without being overbearing or ignoring realities of nature, but I wouldn't recommend this one.

[Asher · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cute story but both the dedication and the language are anti-hunting and that's just silly. So one star.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow a book against gun violence, or at the least against sport hunting. Sure it's a bit over simplified but the message is still there.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute book with great illustrations!

[Susan Keister · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun light read. A bit forgettable, but a good laugh.

[KhiN’Millie Friesen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious! Khi got me to read this several times

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess gnats can be useful...

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We have learned about Bill Peet's illustrations for Disney and his picture books only in the last year or so. We've really enjoyed reading his books and I'm always on the lookout for another one at our local library.

I found this book and thought it might be fun, but I was actually a bit disappointed. It portrays hunters as ignorant, ugly, and not overly intelligent. I understand the nature of the story and in this case, the hunters are the 'bad guys,' but I disliked the stereotypical treatment of them as ruthless killers who just want to shoot something.

I am not a hunter and I will likely never be. I don't even enjoy fishing that much. But my husband enjoys hunting and we have shared many a venison meal as a family.

We may not use every single bit of the deer as the Native Americans did, but we do ensure our girls are aware that hunting is a hobby, but one that can help control the overpopulation of deer as well as provide a 'free' and lean protein source for people to eat. In addition, my husband bowhunts primarily, which requires more skill than just aiming and pulling a trigger.

Overall, it's not a bad story, but not one of our favorites. I suppose it would entertain those who are still mad about Bambi's mom.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bill Peet was one of my favorite childhood authors, but I don't think I every read this one before. Or maybe I did in more recent years and just forgot. It is very heavy-handed and preachy in its anti-hunting message, with only nice illustrations to redeem it (and even then, the moose looks a bit weird when he changes from four-legged posture to bipedal sitting). I don't actually have strong feelings one way or another on hunting, but being preached at is always annoying. Also, it feels a bit odd in its depiction of hunting. My impression is that it is pretty well regulated, with specific seasons for different animals and hunters largely abiding by the rules, not at all the shoot-anything style portrayed in this book. But it is also about 40 years old, so perhaps then hunting was a more important social issue than it seems to be now.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

With a ridiculous storyline and a social agenda, this book did not live up to our high hopes. Even my very young children were annoyed with the complete lack of reality portrayed by the bumbling hunters. This title was very much a disappointment.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Bill Peet. This one had a great non-violence message.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing I like better than a sarcastic moose.
I guess I learned what gnats are good for!

[Keith Bowden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, come on! Moose are FUNNY!