In the Grip of Winter

The Animals of Farthing Wood #2

by Colin Dann

The second book in the "Farthing Wood" series. In the depths of winter, with snow thick on the ground, Badger lies alone and injured. No one knows where he is, and the icy cold is tightening its grip every second. Colin Dann won the Arts Council National Award for Children's Literature.

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

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

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

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was obsessed with The Animals of Farthing Wood as a kid, it was one of the first instances where I'd get the books to find out what would happen in the subsequent series.
(Remember when we all did that for A Game of Thrones? Well until Martin stopped writing them...)

The 'A Song of Ice and Fire' doesn't have a patch on the bloodbath that is this series, at some point or another most of the main characters are in perial and as readers of the first book will know!

Admittedly there wasn't quite as many deaths as the arduous journey from Fathing Wood to the sanctuary of White Deer Park. With a horrendous winter, the animals resolves are certainly tested.

The book also explores the best and worse of humans.
As the parks warden helps treat a fans favourite back to full health, whilst another's life is threatened when poachers enter the park.

Educating readers about the animals (for example hibernation) alongside the constant threat towards our favourite characters helps makes this such a strong and addictive series to enjoy for people of all ages.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5) In this second book of the Farthing Wood series, the animals endure a harsh winter in their new home, the White Deer Park. When Badger falls down a slope and injures his leg, he’s nursed back to health at the Warden’s cottage, where Ginger Cat tempts him to join in a life of comfort and plenty. Meanwhile, Fox, Tawny Owl and the others are near starvation, and resort to leaving the park and stealing food from farms and rubbish bins. Humans are alternately a source of danger and sustenance. The animals have to band together and use all their cunning to survive. This was a sweet book that reminded me of my childhood love of anthropomorphized animal stories (like Watership Down and the Redwall series). If the plot is a bit predictable and the characterization a little 2D, keep in mind it’s probably perfect for the eight- to 12-year-olds it’s meant for. I doubt I’ll read another from the series, but this was a quaint read for the season.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Animals of Farthing Wood, whose epic journey to a new home was chronicled in their first eponymous adventure, return in this second story, in which they confront new dangers. Now residing in White Deer Park, they should be safe, but instead find themselves facing both a severe winter, with its accompanying food shortages, and the depredations of human poachers, who begin to enter the park after the Warden is injured. When Badger is hurt, and is taken in by the Warden, his absence is noted by the others, and Fox, still the leader, launches a search effort. Experiencing the suffering of hunger, the animals start raiding nearby human residences, but the danger of this is brought home to Fox when he and Vixen see another pair of foxes shot, and he must put a stop to it. Later in the book, when the hunters begin to encroach upon the park, shooting some of the majestic deer which give it its name, our vulpine hero comes up with a clever plan to foil the human enemy...

Like its predecessor, In the Grip of Winter is both an exciting and engaging animal adventure story, and a more philosophical meditation upon the beauty and importance of the wild, and the relationship, for both good and evil, between humanity and animal-kind. Needless to say, humanity doesn't always come off looking particularly good, although it is worth noting that the Warden provides a hopeful exception. The scene toward the end of the book, in which there is a connection made between him and the animals, as a group, is beautiful: "an expression came over his face of a wonderful compassion and affection that lit an answering flame in their own hearts. The moment passed, but there was a timelessness about it that was never to be forgotten." It is a moment, the narrator tells us, of magic, "a strange echo of an Ancient world that none of them could comprehend." I enjoyed this second adventure with these lovable animal characters - Fox is a personal favorite, of course! - and appreciated the opportunity to get to know some of their new neighbors, in the form of the animals of White Deer Park, including the Great Stag and his herd. I did wonder a bit, as it concerned the continuation of the 'Oath of Mutual Protection,' as it seems to only include the initial companions. After all, some of the animals - Adder, Weasel, even Fox and Vixen - wouldn't survive very long, if they didn't prey on ANY mice or rabbits. Dann never really addresses that, which seems to point to a weakness of the story idea. Leaving aside that quibble, this is recommended to anyone who enjoyed the first book!

[Daisy May Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been picking my way through the Farthing Wood series, driven by an urge to revisit these emotionally scarring books of my childhood. Though somebody like Richard Adams will always have the crown of accidentally emotionally traumatising children (Plague Dogs! General Woundwort! the! horror!), books like The Fox Cub Bold are right up there with them. This isn't a situation where everything always ends up well. Dann was a naturalist and wrote from experience and although the Farthing Wood animals remain bound by a vow of mutual friendship, others do not. There's a blunt honesty to these books that even now I am rather fond of.

In The Grip Of Winter is the second book of the series. The animals of Farthing Wood have relocated to White Deer Nature Reserve, a space of safety and sanctuary. Everything is going well until winter arrives. It is one of the coldest and hardest winters on record and the animals suffer. Not only do they have to deal with the fierce temperatures and the lack of food that brings, but they also have to face poachers breaking into the park. The poachers are armed with guns, and killing - inevitably - occurs. It's down to the wiles of Fox, supported ably by Vixen, to sort things out...

Upon rereading this, I had quite the memory realisation. When I was a child, I had an intermittent cast of imaginary friends that would join us on car journeys, running along the side of the road at the same pace of the car. I don't think I ever imagined them to anybody but there was White Rabbit, White Horse, White Tiger and - you get the picture. But I realised that this naming comes from the Farthing Wood books - a series where animals are mainly named things like Hare, and Ginger Cat, and Tawny Owl until mates, children and friends of the same species turn up and start to complicate things. My adult feminist side kicks slightly at Whistler's mate - a heron, so named because of a hole in his wing - being called Whistler's mate throughout this book but that's a small point to pick.

In The Grip of Winter is an impressive piece of work and functions as an honest and good introduction to stories about animals for young readers. It feels different to much of today's children's literature and I suspect much of this comes from Dann's naming style - Fox, Vixen, Kestrel etc - but also from his matter of fact knowledge about the natural world. The domestic animals remain domestic, the wild - wild. The biggeranimals eat the smaller (though, as I say, the Farthing Wood creatures abstain from eating each other) and Simba, we eat the antelopes and then we turn into grass and the antelopes eat the grass and it's the circle of life.

I don't think we write children's books like this any more, and I suspect there's a space in the world for a reprint of at least the first in the series. But, for now, I'll continue picking them up when I find them in the charity bookshops and continue to savour this intriguing, occasionally brutal, and somewhat rather fascinating series.

[Kirsti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've owned this book for years, one of the few Animals of Farthing Wood books I didn't have to order from Thriftbooks. As such, I've read it many times and highly enjoy the familiarity of it. I enjoy remembering the story and the characters, and the build up to other books I haven't read for a longer time. Adore this series, we really need a more readily available DVD of the series I grew up loving.

Five stars.

[Antonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favourite childhood book of mine. I love it to shreds.

[Kimberley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that I have owned for years, probably over 10 years (maybe even longer!), I have no idea why it has taken me so long to read it because it is such a short book that would make a quick and easy read. However I finally decided to pick it up and give it a go, better late than never right guys?

In this book we follow a group of animals as they prepare and face the approaching winter. Food will be scarce and they may have further problems to deal with. Will they all come out the other side? With this Winter being harsher than all others the animals must work even harder for their survival.

I was not expecting this book to be so good! I was expecting a children's book which was about simple animals and how its cold and they can't find food and oh no how tragic but they all come out ok on the other side...oh no. It's nothing like that! The harsh winter is described so vividly that you really feel for the animals and the difficulties they are facing. They have to go through such hardships and there is a serious survival for food - it definitely makes you think of the poor animals who actually have to go through it every winter.

Then they have further issues to face (no spoilers) but there are worse things than a harsh Winter! At the start I was under the impression that since it is a children's book they will all come out ok in the end - not to give too much away but they don't! I was so shocked because I thought it never would have happened! However it definitely made the book feel more realistic and it made me love it even more.

I cannot believe that this book sat on my shelves for so long. It is in a similar genre to Watership Down (I imagine the book is the same, I've only ever seen the film). It is about animals who can talk and have their own families and friendship groups. I flew through it and I loved every single word, I will definitely be reading more of this series in future because it is just such a cute story!

I believe this is a book in a series (not 100% but I do think there were books before this one) however for me I was fine without reading the other ones before this. I easily fitted into the story and learnt who was who. The characters all have their individual personalities and for such a short book (something like 160 pages) I really connected with each one and loved them all! I couldn't wait get to the end to find out whether they would all survive!

I would definitely recommend this book, it is amazing! Forget that it is a children's book, forget its age, just go read it!

[FireDragonx · Rating 5 out of 5]

In The Gripe Of Winter by Colin Dann

Tw: Animal death and cruelty

So after the event of Animal Of Farthing Woods, the group settled in White Deer Park things started to look up until Winter began to come in. With food scarcity and cold threat, the Farthing Wood animals must band together to survive this weather.

Colin Dann is one of the authors who has a straightforward premise and is not one to shy away from brutal nature. This is sad because the characters suffering in the last book to into the Park. But it does make you feel triumph when the characters pull through. There actually a lot of good twists and turn in this book for a very short book. Especially compared to the first book.

Overall I give this 10/10

[Gareth Madeley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a much better as a second read in the series than "Adventure Begins" (I'm reading from the Collection), as it pretty much follows directly from the Animals of Farthing Wood. It's good to be back with the friends we made on that journey.

One thing I dislike about Joss Whedon's shows is that he's very good at writing half a series, then there's a climax, an end to the story, and then there's another half-series to go with a new story. In the Grip of Winter feels very much like that, there's a problem, a twist to the problem, the twist resolves, a solution to discovered, the animals celebrate, then the reader realises there's a third to a half of the book left. For me, it made the second story/problem feel tacked on.

[Lara Vehar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my second favourite book in this series- I loved the characters, I loved Badger's growth and I loved how tense the entire book was- it constantly keeps you on the edge not knowing who lives or who dies because they have to contend with a bad winter who kills a lot of smaller animals then the warden is sick and taken to the hospital so two poachers are constantly raiding the park - but I really loved how the animals worked together to defeat them. This book was all around great with great story and great characters as always.

[Casimir Laski · Rating 3 out of 5]

The follow-up to Dann’s 1979 story of adventure and survival, the second novel of The Animals of Farthing Wood series sees the heroes enduring a brutal winter as they settle into White Deer Park, and manages to set the groundwork for future installments while remaining relatively threadbare in terms of narrative and character development. [6/10]

[Nobi Nobes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gretat book!

[Beth Maisie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the first one.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely nature book aimed at younger readers but well written and entertaining.

[Isaac Blackwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly the weakest book in the series. Just a dull read with some characters like Badger(my favorite) acting very out of character.

Not a bad book but not really very good either.

[Daisy L · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story! Maybe it’s my mood, but it felt really wholesome.

[Crazy_smiler]

Based off of the summary and what I saw in the show for I can’t find an audiobook. Seems a bit better than the show in the way of we still have mole. Lol

Got to listen to it. Summary hit it all but read it anyway. Same thoughts n feelings.

[John Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good sequel, which puts familiar characters in a new situation rather than repeating the first story with another journey. It also starts to get more explicit about the fact that the carnivores eat smaller animals; The Animals of Farthing Wood mostly skirted around that by showing them eating insects or just going off elsewhere to hunt. Similarly, this story goes into a bit more detail about animals' mating processes. It's not too graphic, but if you read this story to young children then it may lead to questions about where babies come from.

I'm not quite sure that the sub-plot with the cat worked, but I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt. After Badger was injured, the warden of the nature reserve took him in to heal. The warden's cat befriended him, and encouraged him to stay there permanently. I quite liked the idea of him becoming the first domesticated badger: as the cat said, there must have been a first time for cats (or dogs) to become pets too. However, Badger left to see his friends, then came back, and the cat said that he was wasting his time. That seems rather harsh, since it was the cat's idea in the first place! Similarly, both animals seemed to be on very good terms when Badger left the first time. By the end of the book, the cat was friendly again. Maybe this does reflect reality, similar to the way that Toad and his mate were physically intimate almost as soon as they'd met.

[A.R. Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I found the events of this story slightly more varied and interesting than those in the first book, I was still bored for much of the time. The severe overuse of adverbs particularly annoys me because half the time they don't even make sense; I was often reminded of students trying to cram in adverbs to please a teacher without any degree of understanding. There is still the issue of the animals being far too knowledgeable about the human world, for instance, where on earth did Kestrel hear the expression 'easy as pie'?! The main problem, though, is that I find it impossible to like or dislike any of the characters as they are so poorly crafted.

[Lone Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first sequel to ‘The Animals of Farthing Wood’, this book tells the tale of the Farthing Wood animals’ first winter in White Deer Park. It realistically depicts how hard life can be for wild creatures in winter, and also shows how the animals’ friendships see them through in a heart-warming way. However, the warden keeping an injured badger in his house, with his cat, is ridiculous – no-one in their right mind would try to do such a thing, let alone someone experienced with wild animals. Badger could still have formed his friendship with the cat whilst being kept in a suitable enclosure outdoors, so I’m not sure why the author chose to do this. Still, this is a good read.

[Jake Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

In many ways it would have been better not to turn The Animals of Farthing Wood into a continuing series, as White Deer Park is already coming across as something of a false haven, but I've found that I still like this book as much as I did when I was younger. All the stuff with Badger and the Warden's Cat strikes the right note for me, and the animals' attempts to help each other survive the winter are interesting and sometimes compelling.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

We just don't GET those epic winters in Australia, so they were always interesting to read about in that sort of fantasy, "this isn't real" kind of way. Laura Ingalls' The Long Winter is another I was very fond of.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Returning to the pages of the Farthing Wood gang is like stepping into a roomful of old friends. While the cast of characters is smaller with the hibernating animals asleep for the great duration of the book, new characters are introduced and a few background roles enlarged to fill the gap. As much a page-turner as the previous book!

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have zero recollection of reading this in 2014 but apparently I did. Read again in 2025 with my 12 year old sister. Such a fun experience… mostly because we constantly make fun of the characters, plot & writing. But it is very readable and I enjoyed it.

[Jebin]

Loved it.

[Jordyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a brilliant book and I read it every winter. a good read

[Anna Tan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, nostalgia. :)

It's a pretty good book if you like stories about animals and friendship.

[Sarah A · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sequel to Animals of Farthing Wood. The animals face fierce challenges if they wish to survive the winter.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW!!