Ragweed by Avi

Ragweed Reviews

• 
  Megan

  Lachlan's 3rd grade teacher started reading the Poppy series by Avi to the class. Lachlan fell in love with the books and wanted to share them with us. In fact, the whole class fell in love with the books (I work at the school library during their library time, so I check out their books and I placed many holds on the Avi Poppy books.)
  Lachlan and I listened to this book as an audio book. The narrator is nothing short of fabulous! I feel great comfort and familiarity every time his voices comes on to read to us again!
  This prequel to the Poppy series was written after the the series was completed. It is a fine book (as in OK)--Lachlan actually really loved it. I felt rather lukewarm towards it. It suffers a bit in comparison to the other Poppy books which are truly fabulous.
  This book is the story of Ragweed, a four-month old country mouse who seeks adventure and hops on a train to the city. There he meets a cast of mice who live in fear under an organization headed by two cats (Silversides, a spoiled housecat and Graybar, an alley cat), which is actually named F.E.A.R. The mice in the city have car names--such as Dip Stick, Lugnut, Clutch, while Ragweed comes from a country community where all of the mice are named after plants.
  I liked the courage of Ragweed--how he was willing to go on a big adventure, how he assimilated himself so fully into the culture of the city, and how we quickly transformed from country mouse, to city mouse, to revolutionary mouse.
  I didn't love the city surfer talk--"dude", "like," "know what I'm saying" that was Clutch's way of speaking and soon became Ragweed's. It was too much for me.
  For kids that like animal stories, this is a winner of a series.
  There are lots of lessons that you could talk about from this book--standing up to your enemies, going on an adventure, hero's journey, overcoming your fear, loyalty, etc.
  The most important thing this book does is help you know, understand, and love Ragweed. His appearance in the next book, Poppy is so brief, that it is easy to misjudge him and malign him if you don't know his background.
  Recommend for all kids 3rd grade and up. And adults who enjoy good children's books.
• 
  Jim Hardison

  Read this one with my 11 year old. We both thought it was alright, but neither of us loved it. Would have given it 2 and a half stars if half stars were an option. She didn't really attach to any of the characters and I felt like something was off about the plot and structure.
  
  To be clear, we didn't think it was a waste of our time, but we were only lukewarm about it.
• 
  Katti Swanson

  I read this book aloud to my 6 year old daughter. We enjoyed reading this together. We read Poppy before this one and liked it a bit better. She didn't think this book was as "scary." (She liked the scary parts in the other book a lot.) I'd agree, not quite as suspenseful, but still a fun read.
• 
  Erin

  See review under Poppy.
• 
  emma grace

  read in 2005-6....
• 
  Nicholas White

  I think I really enjoyed this book.It wasen't that interesting,but it tell's me alot of detal on this book.
• 
  Anne

  Must read aloud with cool voices 😂
• 
  Susan

  A fun childrens story..first in a series.
• 
  Ensiform

  This is the prequel to two books I have not read, Poppy and Poppy and Rye. In this book, the Ragweed of the title is an adventurous little deer mouse who hops a train for the big city, There, he encounters many analogues to the urbane big city of human life circa 1978. One of these is Clutch, a green-haired mouse who rides a skateboard and sports an earring. Like, that's way outré, man. She paints and plays lead guitar in a punk band at the Cheese Squeeze Club, a hip blend of Greenwich Village disco and Parisian intellectual salon. She teaches Ragweed the "high four" (slapping paws). Life isn't all sit-ins and slapping skin, however. There is a pair of angry cats out to kill the mice. And these aren't just cats out for dinner, they're sort of social revolutionaries, founders of F.E.A.R. ("Felines Enraged About Rodents"). Ragweed must rally the mice to defend their beloved bohemian nest.
  
  I found the whole story slightly alien and hard to get into, and I think my third-grade class felt the same way. It may be because the city archetypes are dated and corny. But perhaps that is tangential to the main problem, which is that my students didn't really relate to the characters, so the lessons were not as keenly felt. Of course, as with all mouse stories, this is really a tale about people and their worries: coming into yourself as a person, making new friends, loyalty, when to fight and when to submit, and so on. Ragweed is a fine character, although a bit of a blank slate. Really it's Clutch and her bizarre band of bohemians that gave the book such a dated, artificial feeling. Ragweed's relationship with Clutch felt awkward, as though it was meant to go further but couldn't because of what happens next in the series. The first two tales of Dimwood Forest are popular with my class. Maybe I should have read them first?
• 
  Cynthia Egbert

  I just needed something silly to offset my other reading and my life and this was just that, silly! It was a refreshing and quick read. My favourite part was the fact that the mother mouse who was such a serious poet was creating a work titled "Cheese of Grass". I laughed out loud at that one.
• 
  Giselle Bradley

  DNF'd 33% I read and adored this series when I was younger but its just quite cringy. I'm not continuing my reread
• 
  Karen

  3.5
• 
  Irene

  Isabelle's teacher is reading the "Tales of Dimwood Forest" series out loud in school. Isabelle really dislikes them. She said she would give the whole series 0 stars, but then after a little pressing, she relented and said 1 star because the books do get better.
  
  I tried to get her to articulate what she doesn't like about the books, but it wasn't easy. I had to ask leading questions, and then I don't know if I was influencing her answers by prompting her with ideas. From what I can gather, she seems to not like the whole idea of anthropomorphized animals. I remember having to read The Wind in the Willows in fourth grade, and not really liking it, plus I tried to read Watership Down some time in college, I think, and could never get into that book, either. (It's still on my to-read list.) So I think I know what she means. She also just says it's boring.
  
  I had never even heard of this series, so I figured I'd read it myself and see what Isabelle was complaining about. I thought this book, the first in the series, was alright. It's about a country mouse named Ragweed who wants to see the world. Leaving his family and the comforts and safety of home behind, he heads to a city called Amperville. There he meets a city mouse named Clutch who shows him the ways of the city.
  
  The writing style was descriptive, but not simplistically matter-of-fact. I liked that this book was actually more elegantly written than I would have expected for a children's book, but I do wonder if that contributed to Isabelle's impression of the book being boring.
  
  I liked the enthusiasm and bravery of all the main characters - Ragweed, Clutch, and even Blinkers. I thought it was cute that the country mice had plant-related names, while the city mice had car-related names. I also liked that there were any number of positive lessons a reader could take away from the book. "Explore the world and see what's out there." "Don't be afraid to go beyond your comfort zone." "Every life has challenges, just keep persevering." "Respect and celebrate differences." "Stick up for yourself, and don't let others push you around."
  
  Silversides, the antagonist of the story, was actually a pretty interesting character, for a cat. Since this is a children's book, I at first took for granted that Silversides was supposed to be "the bad guy", like how the wolf is "the bad guy" in The Three Little Pigs or Little Red Riding Hood. Wolves are wolves, they need to eat, that's just how they are. Cats hate mice, and that's just how it is, right? But the book gave us examples of cats who do like mice, and we kept seeing glimpses of the girl's cruel and unfair treatment of Silversides - she basically transferred any love she used to have for her cat to her new pet mouse. I really sympathized with Silversides, and I wonder if another message of the book might be, "Treat each other kindly, and don't feed the cycle of hate."
  
  I can appreciate the intended humor regarding Clutch's use of slang, but the overuse of "like", "Know what I'm saying?" and "dude" did irritate me. I was disappointed when Ragweed adopted the lingo, too. I also thought that the potential for a love triangle was a bit much, but then again, I am always down on superfluous romance in books and movies.
• 
  Shauna

  We aren't quite finished, but we can't find the book. I'm not too sad, it definitely is not as good as Poppy. We are on to Redwall by Brian Jacques. Sallie requested it!
  
  
  
  Sallie and I read Poppy (Book 2 in the series) a couple of weeks ago. She loved it. But, she was quite disgruntled to find that I had started NOT at the beginning. (I had read Poppy with the older children years ago and I knew she would enjoy it.) We had originally planned to read the following book, Poppy and Rye, but when she found out there was a book one, she insisted on reading it first. (Brent does predict she will be a librarian someday, she really likes order, and books!)
  
  I was worried that she wouldn't enjoy Ragweed because we know that Ragweed meets a sad end at the beginning of Poppy. But, whenever Ragweed is in danger, she says, "Well, we know that Ragweed doesn't die yet, don't we? Because Mr. Ocax gets him in Poppy." So, perhaps it is a comfort to her. . . she can enjoy the suspense of Ragweed's adventures, knowing that he doesn't die in this book, and when we first met Ragweed in the book Poppy, she didn't have a strong attachment to him at the time of his demise.
  
  She wants to read the entire series (and have a book club party to celebrate them). We'll see. I might need a break from mice stories, but we have Poppy and Rye (Book 3) ready to go whenever I'm ready!
• 
  Amanda Edwards

  Ragweed, by Avi, is about a a young mouse named Ragweed that is seeking for adventure. But he discovers that he finds a place called Amperville. Amperville is a place that has two sides, one is Mouse Town, and second is F.E.A.R. F.E.A.R. is a organization for two cats, a house cat named Silversides, and a sewer cat named Graybar. They team up and conquer what they want to get rid of: Rodents. Ragweed disides that enough is enough and he gets rid of them once and for all when F.E.A.R. tries to ruin Cafe Independent, a clus set up by Ragweed and Clutch. When Ragweed sends F.E.A.R. down the sewer, they never come back and Ragweed goes back to his home.
  
  When I was reading this book, I made a text-to-self connection. As Ragweed makes a desision to take care of F.E.A.R., other mouses deside that they should do something about F.E.A.R. too. As in real life, everyone in this world makes a desision to do something that doesn't work for them, and that changes everything. Ragweed thinks of F.E.A.R. as something that shouldn't bother him and anyone else anymore.
  
  I give this book a 4 because the story told how Ragweed blossomed into what he was inside, a caring mouse for not just himself, for the entire town.
• 
  Sarah Eagle

  This book had every bit of wit, charm and allegory that I praised Poppy for. Where Ocax leads a totalitarian regime over the mice, who have been brainwashed into complacence, the cat Silversides in the city of Amberville is absolutely intolerant and hateful towards mice, which she believes are the root of all of her problems, and forms a KKK-like brigade called F.E.A.R. to rally against the "mouse conspiracy".
  Ragweed proves a wonderful go-between for the city and the country where Poppy is from. He isn't a thourough "white savior" figure, Clutch isn't the "manic pixie dream girl" trope, and Blinker doesn't fall prey to the "weak, cowardly smart one" trope, either. Avi makes careful nods to certain archetypes and finds ways to bypass them. All in all, Avi has proven himself a wonderful world-maker using very little - a vital skill for children's books - as well as a rich prose that hides many layers for both children (the main audience) and adults to enjoy. To my great pleasure, there are 3 more books after Poppy, which I would have read already if we owned #3. Still. 10/10 would recommend to someone, ANYONE else who likes fantasy.
• 
  Janeen-san

  I finished Ragweed a short time ago, and I fell in love with it! The story is about a country mouse who ventures into the city and triumps over the cats that are detimred to rid the world of mice!
  I love how daring Ragweed is, and Cluch (one of the mice he meets)is so...awsome!! She loves adventure!
  I like Blinker, he was so shy, but in the end had enough couage to leave the human house. I like how Blinker likes reading; just like me!!
  I love all animal stories, but this one was my favorite animal story!
  I DIDN"T CARE that it was a short book. I LOVED IT!!!!!!
  WHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
  To find out how they defeat the evil kitties, who Clucht and Blinker are, then you'll have to read this book!
  I hope you like it as much as I did!!
  :)
  
  AVI (the auothor) RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  LONG LIVE AVI!!!!!
  whooooooo hooooooooo!!!
• 
  Fred Kohn

  When I was a kid, we used to joke: "I'm not perfect, I was wrong once. I once thought I had made a mistake, but I was wrong about that." Well, when I read
  Poppy, thinking it was the first book in the series, I thought I was mistaken about that because Ragweed gets killed off early in the book. But as it turned out, this book with Ragweed as the main character is actually a prequel. At any rate, I enjoyed this book significantly more than Poppy. I think Ragweed is a more interesting character than Poppy (based only on the one other book I have read in the series), and I don't remember that book being nearly as funny as this one.
• 
  Lisa Rathbun

  A little mouse leaves home for the big city and has some adventures. The idea had potential, but I wasn't really drawn in. The plot seemed a bit slow-moving; the romance developed too fast to be believable. Also, and this may seem like a silly issue in a fantasy book, there were some small details that I found unrealistic: why does Blinker know how to read? Where does Clutch get the tiny wheels for her skateboard? Why is the water still available at the old bookstore but the sewer line is unplugged? I know, I know. The fact that mice can talk at all is ridiculous, but if you want to create a somewhat believable world, you need to be consistent. Not a favorite.
• 
  Betsy

  I think this is probably not the best introduction to the Dimwood Tales.... People don't seem to like it as much. I'll give another Dimwood tale a try at some point; my kids and I enjoyed listening to it in the car, but I think much of the "meaning" behind it was way over their heads. (They're only 5, 5, and 6). Still, by the time a child is old enough to really get the meaning behind the tale (classic story of prejudice, one group trying to oust another based simply on appearance, revolution, etc.), he or she will probably find the tale a touch juvenile. Also, the street lingo was a bit much.
• 
  Berny A.M.

  Short and sweet, the Tales from Dimwood Forest are probably some of my favorite book series. They follow the story of Poppy, a mouse who sets out on adventures making great friends along the way. Though Ragweed is a prequel, I recommend reading Poppy first as it will give you a better understanding of the story.
  
  What I think is great about AVI in general is the way he makes his descriptions. They are so detailed that you can get an exact picture of the setting and everything that happens in it, and the beautiful illustrations only serve to improve these tales.
  
  Though these are stories better suited for children from 6 and above, I think any adult can enjoy them.
• 
  Shannon

  Amazon Book Description:
  Ragweed is determined to see the world. He leaves his family and cozy country home and sets off by train for the big city. What wonders await him: music, excitement, new friends...and cunning, carnivorous cats! Silversides is the purring president of F.E.A.R. (Felines Enraged About Rodents), a group dedicated to keeping cats on top, people in the middle, and mice on the bottom. Can Ragweed and his motley yet musical crew of city nice--Clutch, Dipstick, Lugnut, and Blinker--band together to fight their feline foe?
• 
  King Haddock

  This book is immensely entertaining. The names of the mice are absolutely entertaining, where country mice are named off of plants, and the city mice are named after car parts or the like (my favorite name: Brakepad). The lingo is also very entertaining, as is the focus on art, music, and the like. A very worthwhile read with an interesting point of view on mice in comparison to other rodent fiction.
• 
  Jenna

  Ragweed is part of the Tales of Dimwood Forest and which is set around Poppy. Poppy is a very brave mouse who isn't afraid to do what's right. It is exciting and lovable. It is set for a younger age but everybody can enjoy it. It is so cute. It is a definite family book. This particular book is a prequel to the series.
  
  Ratings (out of 10):
  Plot: 9
  Characters: 10
  Writing Style: 9
  Fiction: 10
  Originality: 9
  Total: 47/50 (A)