Poppy's Return by Avi, illustrations by Brian Floca, is a wonderful book. I absolutely adored this book. And when I finished it, my husband, Jim, read it and loved it just as much as I did. Of course, now I want to read all of his other books, too! Apparently, there are many books about Poppy, her beloved Rye, and many of the other characters in the "Tales from Dimwood Forest" series of books. I guess I have my summer reading list now!
I was interested to find out who exactly Avi was and searched for him (or her) on Amazon. I found out that Avi is the pen name of Edward Irving Wortis, born in 1937, and author of more than 70 books. He is a Newbery award winner as well as Horn book and O'Dell book award winner, and has won numerous other awards.
The story is quite an adventure for Poppy, a little mouse, who is told she must save Gray House, the home where she grew up. But she now has her own home and family and together with her son, Junior, his friend, Mephitis the skunk and the family friend, Ereth the porcupine, they travel back through the forest and find that, although things are about to drastically change, most everything that changes is ultimately the best for everyone. I highly recommend this book not only for the story but Brian Floca's illustrations, also, are wonderful and are a perfect complement to the story.
I give Poppy's Return 5 out of 5 stars