When I first found a Redwall book in my grandparents’ attic, I gave it a second glance, judged the book by its cover – and started reading it.
(And yes, the original cover artwork is the best!)
15 or so years later, I’m still a massive fan.
After a few years of reading – or perhaps once you reach a certain age – you have a moment in Redwall when you realize these aren’t really stories about cute woodland creatures.
Yes, there are mice.
Yes, there are feasts.
Yes, there are abbey kitchens, strawberry cordial, enormous pies, and enough descriptions of food to make you hungry even if you’ve just eaten.
But there are also sieges, battles, betrayals, last stands, unlikely heroes and characters who willingly put themselves in danger because somebody else needs protecting.
That’s part of what makes Brian Jacques’ Redwall series so special.
If you’re looking for child-friendly adventure books, whether for your child or because you still enjoy reading them yourself (which is absolutely fair enough!), Redwall is one of the best places to start.
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For me, one of the reasons Redwall stands out among child-friendly adventure books is that Brian Jacques takes younger readers seriously.
These are children’s books, but that doesn’t mean the characters are protected from difficult decisions or painful consequences.
Characters fail. They misjudge people. They become frightened. They lose creatures they love. Sometimes they have to choose between their own safety and doing what they know is right.
And sometimes doing the right thing costs them dearly.
Martin the Warrior comes to mind – it doesn’t shy away from what an adventure can cost.
A peaceful mouse doesn’t look much like a warrior.
A hare who spends half his time thinking about his next meal might not seem like the creature you’d choose for a desperate mission.
And yet Redwall repeatedly gives ordinary, funny, and sometimes flawed characters the chance to become heroes.
That’s much more interesting than following an invincible warrior who was always destined to save everybody.
For example, Matthias begins Redwall (the first book) as a clumsy young novice. But when something is demanded of him, he reluctantly becomes something more.
For a young reader, the fact that nobody starts out as a hero is a powerful idea.
Cluny the Scourge is not misunderstood in Redwall.
He doesn’t need a lengthy redemption arc explaining that deep down he really wants a hug.
He’s terrifying.
He’s just downright evil.
Why? Because he is.
I love it.
And he’s far from alone.
Across 22 novels, Redwall gives us warlords, pirates, tyrants, slavers, assassins and assorted vermin who would very much like to conquer, steal from or otherwise ruin the lives of our favourite woodland creatures (like Ferahgo in Salamandastron or Swartt Sixclaw in Outcast of Redwall).
That clear sense of good and evil works brilliantly in a child-friendly adventure story.
There can still be complexity. Characters can surprise us, appearances can be misleading and individuals can make unexpected choices.
But when the heroes finally stand between their homes and an approaching army, we know exactly why the fight is important – and what’s at stake if they lose.
A story about fighting becomes much more meaningful when you understand what the characters are fighting for.
That’s where Redwall Abbey comes in.
It represents home.
It’s food and friendship and food. It’s songs, food, celebrations, and ridiculous feasts (yes, more food). It’s safety after a long journey. It’s somewhere peaceful creatures can live together without constantly looking over their shoulders.
And because Jacques spends so much time making you want to live there, the threat of somebody attacking it feels really personal.
You don’t just want the heroes to defeat the villain.
You want them to protect home.
This might be my favourite thing about the entire series.
Sometimes courage means leaving somewhere safe.
Sometimes it means continuing when you’re exhausted, frightened or injured.
And occasionally, it means a character accepting that they won’t be coming back.
Some of the series’ most memorable moments involve creatures putting themselves in danger so somebody else can escape, survive, or finish what needs to be done.
And this is never sugarcoated or painless – but neither is it overdone, gory, or unnecessary.
Basically, there’s enough danger to make the story exciting, but enough heart to make the adventure mean something.
Lots of books take you through the halls and orchards of Redwall Abbey.
But not all.
High Rhulain takes you across the sea, Lord Brocktree heads back into Salamandastron’s past, while The Legend of Luke pushes Martin’s story towards the northern coasts.
There are islands, forests, rivers, coastlines, caves, ships, and settlements scattered throughout the world.
You gradually build a mental map as you read.
Better still, Jacques doesn’t need to explain every corner of it, so there’s always the feeling that another path leads somewhere you haven’t seen yet.
That sense of scale makes Redwall particularly good for children who fall in love with a fictional world and never want to leave it.
And with 22 novels in the series, fortunately, you don’t have to leave quickly.
“Burr aye!”
The moles have their wonderful West Country dialect. The hares have their upper-class military mannerisms. (Read a few chapters of The Long Patrol and try not to address your family as if you’re a British office from World War One – you’ll know exactly what I mean.)
Other groups and characters have their own rhythms, expressions, and ways of speaking.
That can make Redwall slightly unusual when you first pick it up.
Stick with it.
Before long, you don’t just recognize who’s talking. You can practically hear them.
Fun fact: Jacques originally wrote Redwall for children at the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind in Liverpool, and his vivid descriptions helped create a world they could experience through words.
But that richness in dialogue brings everyone to life in a way that few other fantasy adventure stories quite manage.
Speaking of hares…
The feasts.
Anyone who has spent enough time reading Redwall has probably wondered what October Ale tastes like or developed an unreasonable desire for something called deeper’n’ever turnip’n’tater’n’beetroot pie.
Food (or “vittles”) plays a surprisingly important role. It makes Redwall feel warm and lived-in. A feast marks safety, friendship and community. Travellers share food. Victories lead to celebrations. Characters returning from dangerous journeys are welcomed back to tables overflowing with things you desperately wish you could reach through the page and steal.
These scenes also create a lovely contrast with the danger outside.
After chapters spent travelling through storms, escaping enemies or fighting battles, coming home for a Redwall feast feels like a reward for the reader too.
Update: I have just learned that Brian Jacques eventually went so far as to give us The Redwall Cookbook, complete with deeper’n’ever pie, October Ale and plenty more. I can’t believe I’ve only just heard of this. Time to order!
Redwall can get dark.
Thankfully, it can also be ridiculous. (Rakkety Tam or The Long Patrol for the most laughs!)
Throughout the series, you’ll find it what is, in my opinion, a near-perfect balance of humour with the highest of stakes.
A character who exists purely to deliver exposition and swing a sword is difficult to love.
A character who has made you laugh?
You really, really don’t want anything bad to happen to them.
Which makes it significantly worse when Brian Jacques decides that something will.
There is an overarching history to the world, and reading the books in publication order has its advantages.
But Redwall isn’t one enormous 22-volume story.
Most books tell a complete adventure, almost completely detached from the others. (There are a few exceptions, particularly books with more direct connections, such as Redwall and Mattimeo.) Some take place many generations before others. You’ll recognize characters and places that connect the stories, and knowing the wider history makes certain moments more rewarding, but you can pick up many of the novels and enjoy them on their own.
You can jump from Lord Brocktree, set far back in the history of Salamandastron, to something much later such as The Taggerung without needing to remember one continuous plot.
Strip away the talking animals, swords, fortresses, riddles, ships, and enormous quantities of fictional cheese, and Redwall is ultimately about choices.
Do you run or stay?
Do you judge someone by what they look like or by what they do? (Deyna in The Taggerung is almost entirely about that question.)
What are you prepared to give up for your friends?
I think this is why the books stick with people like me so much. You can read Redwall as a child because it has sword fights, evil rats and heroic mice. You can remember it years later because you understand what those heroic mice were fighting for.
Start with Redwall.
It introduces the Abbey, Matthias, and many of the ideas that define the wider series. If it grabs you, you then have another 21 books waiting.
After that, I’d personally recommend exploring Marlfox, Salamandastron, The Long Patrol and The Taggerung – although ask five Redwall fans for their favourites and you’ll get five different lists.
That one’s mine.
If you love books like Redwall, you probably already know how hard it can be to find children’s adventure stories that feel genuinely exciting and dangerous without becoming unsuitable for younger readers.
That’s part of what I’m aiming for with Packkeeper.
Packkeeper is an upcoming adventure novel for readers aged 8 to 12, following a boy named Jak and the mythical dusk wolves his people have lived alongside for generations – but not peacefully.
There are friendships, betrayals, dangerous journeys and difficult choices. There are wolves. There are people worth protecting. And there are liars.
When things go wrong, being brave doesn’t necessarily mean being fearless. It means deciding what you’re willing to do for those you love.
Packkeeper isn’t available yet, but you can join the mailing list to follow the journey towards publication and be among the first to know when the book is released.
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