A while ago, I mentioned ordering an out of print children's book. I particularly remembered a powerful scene which combined the supernatural, the poignancy of death, and the underlying admonishment to appreciate life while we can. The fact that the major characters were talking rabbits didn't detract from the impact. I thought I knew which book it was, having carefully memorized the name of a perfectly wonderful novel which I read twice in fifth grade, and could never find again at the library. All hail BookSearch.com!
My copy of King Oberon's Forest arrived Christmas Eve, and I read it carefully, waiting for the scene I remembered so distinctly from thirty years ago. The illustrations seemed only slightly familiar, but I suppose I could have read a non-Book Club edition at the library. The story was delightful, not condescending at all, and just a little more sophisticated than I expected (Mr. Squirrel is a would-be philanderer and leaves his wife and babies to write poetry and flirt with young females in another part of the forest, for instance). The reformation of the grouchy dwarf brothers was charming. The reconciliation of the squirrels was sweet. The primary story of Felix, the orphaned fairy who became one of King Oberon's knights, was immensely satisfying.
The scene wasn't in the book.
I'm crushed. I've absolutely no idea what book it's in. Kymm thinks it might be Watership Down, but I had a quick look through it the other night at a bookstore, and I am not convinced. I don't have much information to go on, just one scene and the fact that it's talking animals, and I believe it would have been published sometime between 1930 and 1970, most probably in the 60's. That's so vague as to be impossible. My only hope is that someone else out there has read this mystery children's book and remembers the scene, and so I am going to tell you what I remember of it. If you think you recognise the situation, please write me!
A pair or possibly trio of young animals runs away from a very bad situation. They are rabbits, or at least some of them are. They take a boat down the river through the forest where they live, and gradually become lost. They leave the boat on the opposite bank and start walking through the forest. Everything becomes misty and strange. The light is peculiar. It's hushed, they meet no other animals, and a sense of displacement grows. Finally, they halt, and one of them says, "We're not meant to be here yet. It's too soon." They have accidentally crossed over into the land of the dead. They make their way back, and return to the other side of the river, and home.
Well, when I was young it was terribly impressive. I'd like to find the book. I'm usually not wrong about good books, even if it's been decades since I read them, and I'm sure this was a good book. A pity I was cavalier about titles and authors in my younger years. To this day I can describe entire plots, characters, and details of books whose titles I couldn't name to save my life. I'll bet you money I've remembered the wording correctly in that scene from the elusive book which influenced me so greatly.
Let me know if it rings any bells.
The Index
Next Incarnation