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Richard Adams at 100: the story behind Watership Down

Watership Down

Discover our collectable Puffin Clothbound Classic edition of Watership Down 
 
Puffin Clothbound Classics are stunning collectable gift editions of some of the best-loved classics in the world - including this irresistible edition of Watership Down. 
 
Be cunning, and full of tricks - Richard Adams 
 
Fiver is very worried. He senses something terrible is about to happen to the warren, the only home he's ever known. While the other rabbits ignore him, his big brother Hazel knows that Fiver's instincts are always right... 
 
They must leave immediately. 
 
Fiver leads the rabbits on a thrilling quest through the human world to their new home, Watership Down, where they must work together to overcome their biggest challenge yet. 
 
Collect our Puffin Clothbound Classics: 
 9780241444313 The Little Prince 
 9780241663554 The Jungle Book 
 9780241568811 Charlotte's Web 
 9780241688243 Little Women 
 9780241688250 Peter Pan 
 9780241688267 The Railway Children 
 9780241688236 Chinese Cinderella 
 9780241411216 Treasure Island 
 9780241411209 The Wizard of Oz 
 9780241655702 Watership Down 
 9780241663578 The Worst Witch 
 9780241663547 David Copperfield 
 9780241663561 The Neverending Story 
 9780241623909 Stig of the Dump 
 9780241623916 The Dark is Rising 
 9780241411162 The Secret Garden 
 9780241411148 Black Beauty 
 9780241411155 Dracula 
 9780241425121 Frankenstein 
 9780241425138 Wuthering Heights 
 9780241425114 Tales from Shakespeare 
 9780241425107 Tales of the Greek Heroes 
 9780241411193 A Christmas Carol 
 9780241621196 Grimms' Fairy Tales 
 9780241425145 Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales

A treacherous journey and quest for survival - one to pick up, time and time again

Beautifully evoking the Berkshire countryside in poetic language, it is an exciting, moving and powerful novel.

Beautifully written with some of the best characterisation you'll come across in children's literature, it tells the story of a group of rabbits and their will to survive despite human attempts to do otherwise.  Full of adventure, humour, excitement and sadness it will enthral as much now as it did when it was first published

Richard Adams grew up in Berkshire, the son of a country doctor. After an education at Oxford, he spent six years in the army and then went into the Civil Service. He originally began telling the story of Watership Down to his two daughters and they insisted he publish it as a book. It quickly became a huge success with both children and adults, and won the Guardian Children's Fiction Award and the Carnegie Medal in 1972. Richard Adams wrote many novels and short stories, including Shardik and The Plague Dogs. He died in 2016, aged 96.

Puffin Clothbound Classics are stunning collectable hardback editions of some of the best-loved classics in the world - including this irresistible edition of Watership Down. 
 
Be cunning, and full of tricks - Richard Adams 
 
Fiver is very worried. He senses something terrible is about to happen to the warren, the only home he's ever known. While the other rabbits ignore him, his big brother Hazel knows that Fiver's instincts are always right... 
 
They must leave immediately. 
 
Fiver leads the rabbits on a thrilling quest through the human world to their new home, Watership Down, where they must work together to overcome their biggest challenge yet.

Watership Down: The Graphic Novel

Watership Down: The Graphic Novel captures Richard Adams's epic tale of courage, friendship, hope, and survival. 
 
Spectacularly adapted by award-winning author James Sturm and gorgeously illustrated by bestselling artist Joe Sutphin. 
 
'Every page of this adaptation is a loving tribute to Richard Adams's masterpiece' - Andrew Peterson, author of The Wingfeather Saga. 
 
For more than 50 years, Watership Down has charmed readers across the world, and now this highly anticipated graphic novel adaptation is set to delight devoted readers and bring this beloved classic to a new generation. 
 
'Every rabbit that stays behind is in great danger. We will welcome any rabbit who joins us.' 
 
Also available: 
Watership Down: 9780241655702 
Watership Down Clothbound Classic: 9780241655702

An absolute masterpiece. Whether or not you've read the original, you will be pulled into this visually mind-blowing story that was created with so much care and heart.

Watership Down is my favourite book, and I consider it to be one of the very greatest books of all time.

James Sturm and Joe Sutphin have managed to draw out the heart of this classic, brilliantly adapting it into the graphic novel form. A wonderful way for new readers to discover the story and for hardened fans to reconnect with Fiver, Hazel, Bigwig, and the gang.

Joseph Coelho, Waterstones Children’s Laureate, 2022–2024

An immersive, breathtaking visual experience that carries readers through all the danger and beauty of this literary classic. Mark my words: this version of Watership Down will be just as influential as the original.

Nate Powell, award-winning cartoonist of the March trilogy and Save It for Later

Richard Adams (Author) 
Richard Adams grew up in Berkshire, the son of a country doctor. After an education at Oxford, he spent six years in the army and then went into the Civil Service. He originally began telling the story of Watership Down to his two daughters and they insisted he publish it as a book. It quickly became a huge success with both children and adults, and won the Guardian Children's Fiction Award and the Carnegie Medal in 1972. Richard Adams wrote many novels and short stories, including Shardik and The Plague Dogs. He died in 2016, aged 96. 
 
Joe Sutphin (Illustrator) 
Joe Sutphin is an illustrator of books for kids such as Helen Taylor's Little Pilgrim's Progress, Andrew Peterson's Wingfeather Saga, and the New York Times bestseller Word of Mouse by James Patterson. His love of nature, and of the living creatures in the fields and woods around his home, has informed his art for much of his life. Joe lives in a barn in Ohio with his wife, Gina, and a bunch of cats. 
 
James Sturm (Illustrator) 
James Sturm's graphic novels include Off Season, The Golem's Mighty Swing, and Market Day; he co-authored the popular instructional series for children Adventures in Cartooning with Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost. Winner of two Eisner Awards, Sturm co-founded the Seattle alternative weekly The Stranger and The Center for Cartoon Studies, where he currently serves as director.

Watership Down: The Graphic Novel captures Richard Adams's epic tale of courage, friendship, hope, and survival. Spectacularly adapted by award-winning author James Sturm and gorgeously illustrated by bestselling artist Joe Sutphin. 
 
Every page of this adaptation is a loving tribute to Richard Adams's masterpiece - Andrew Peterson, author of The Wingfeather Saga. 
 
For more than 50 years, Watership Down has charmed readers across the world, and now this highly anticipated graphic novel adaptation is set to delight devoted readers and bring this beloved classic to a new generation. 
 
Every rabbit that stays behind is in great danger. We will welcome any rabbit who joins us.

40th anniversary edition of Richard Adams' picaresque saga about a motley band of rabbits - 
Watership Down is one of the most beloved novels of our time. 
 
Sandleford Warren is in danger. Hazel's younger brother Fiver is convinced that a great evil is about to befall the land, but no one will listen. And why would they when it is Spring and the grass is fat and succulent? So together Hazel and Fiver and a few other brave rabbits secretly leave behind the safety and strictures of the warren and hop tentatively out into a vast and strange world. 
 
Chased by their former friends, hunted by dogs and foxes, avoiding farms and other human threats, but making new friends, Hazel and his fellow rabbits dream of a new life in the emerald embrace of Watership Down . . . 
 
'A gripping story of rebellion in a rabbit warren and the subsequent adventures of the rebels. Adams has a poetic eye and a gift for storytelling which will speak to readers of all ages for many years to come' Sunday Times 
 
'A masterpiece. The best story about wild animals since The Wind in the Willows. Very funny, exciting, often moving' Evening Standard 
 
'A great book. A whole world is created, perfectly real in itself, yet constituting a deep incidental comment on human affairs' Guardian 
 
Richard Adams grew up in Berkshire, the son of a country doctor. After an education at Oxford, he spent six years in the army and then went into the Civil Service. He originally began telling the story of Watership Down to his two daughters and they insisted he publish it as a book. It quickly became a huge success with both children and adults, and won the Guardian Children's Fiction Award and the Carnegie Medal in 1972. Richard Adams has written many novels and short stories, including Shardik and The Plague Dogs.

A great book. A whole world is created, perfectly real in itself, yet constituting a deep incidental comment on human affairs

A gripping story of rebellion in a rabbit warren and the subsequent adventures of the rebels. Adams has a poetic eye and a gift for storytelling which will speak to readers of all ages for many years to come

A masterpiece. The best story about wild animals since The Wind in the Willows. Very funny, exciting, often moving

Extraordinary . . . magically well-made and memorable

Sandleford Warren is in danger. Hazel's younger brother Fiver is convinced that a great evil is about to befall the land, but no one will listen. And why would they when it is Spring and the grass is fat and succulent? So together Hazel and Fiver and a few other brave rabbits secretly leave behind the safety and strictures of the warren and hop tentatively out into a vast and strange world. 
 
Chased by their former friends, hunted by dogs and foxes, avoiding farms and other human threats, but making new friends, Hazel and his fellow rabbits dream of a new life in the emerald embrace of Watership Down . . .

Richard Adams

Rediscover the A Puffin Book series and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation - including this highly anticipated edition of Tales from Watership Down. 
 
Return to the warren with this treasured collection of short stories, an epic encore to the timeless classic Watership Down. 
 
Dig deeper into the extraordinary inner lives of Bigwig, Dandelion, Fiver, Hazel, and the legendary El-ahrairah steeped in rich tradition and unearth the untold legends, passed down through generations, that shaped their destinies. . .

Tales from Watership Down

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A series of children's modern classic novels by renowned 20th century children's writers. All the titles in this series have the A Puffin Book logo, contemporary-style covers, and child-friendly endnotes.

Richard Adams

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Articles featuring Richard Adams

12 thought-provoking quotes from Watership Down

9 must-read classic children’s books, as chosen by our readers

7 brilliant authors who wrote their best books late in their careers

Richard Adams at 100: the story behind Watership Down

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