Why The Redwall Series Belongs On Your Family Bookshelf

If you are looking for a series that can pull your child away from a screen and into a rich, shared world of story, Brian Jacques’s Redwall books are a wonderful place to start. They offer old-fashioned adventure, clear moral stakes, and a warmth that makes them perfect for reading aloud at home.

Brian Jacques grew up in a working-class Liverpool home, left school at fifteen and spent years as a sailor, docker, truck driver, and even stand-up comic before he turned to writing. The turning point came when he was delivering milk to the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind in Liverpool and began reading to the children, only to find the books he was given: “dreadful” and: “uninspiring”.

He started to write his own stories for those children, and Redwall was born. As his publisher puts it: “Since 1986, his descriptive style of writing has captivated readers from ages 8 to 80.”

The Redwall series follows peaceful woodland creatures who live in and around Redwall Abbey, a kind of monastic community in a medieval-style world. Mice, badgers, otters, hares, and squirrels defend their home against rats, foxes, and other vermin in stories that are unapologetically about good and evil, courage and cowardice, loyalty and betrayal.

Critics have praised Jacques’s admirable heroes and contemptible villains engaged in classic battles between good and evil, which is exactly the kind of moral clarity many parents want their children to encounter.

Part of the charm lies in how vivid these books feel. Jacques once said: “I wanted to write something visual that I could read to the children.” Because he was writing for blind pupils, he leaned heavily on sound, smell, touch, and especially taste. As children’s author Katherine Rundell notes: “The food in Redwall is the thing most of its readers remember”, from shrimp garnished with rose leaves to apple and carrot chews. That kind of sensory writing draws children in and quietly stretches their vocabulary and attention span.

Redwall is also a gentle answer to the idea that modern children will only read short, simple books. When the first novel appeared in 1986 it was unusually long for a children’s story, yet it went on to anchor a series of twenty-two novels that have become international bestsellers. One obituary noted that the books have sold over 20 million copies and been translated into 28 languages, evidence that something in these tales speaks across cultures and generations.

For parents, the question is age and fit. The series is generally aimed at older children, roughly ten or twelve and up, since there are real battles and some beloved characters die along the way. That said, many families report reading the first books aloud to slightly younger children, who cope well when a parent is there to pause, explain, and reassure.

Themes of bravery, friendship, and sacrifice are handled firmly but not cynically, and younger readers often latch onto curious, impulsive characters who grow through their mistakes. As Jacques wrote in Mattimeo (a novel where the inhabitants of Redwall Abbey must defend their home from foxes who are looking for slaves): “Sometimes the gift of an inquisitive nature to the young can be greater than that of the wisdom which comes of age.”

If you want your children to love reading, Redwall gives you more than a bedtime story. It offers a shared imaginative world where families can talk about what it means to keep a promise, to stand up to a bully, or to lead when you are afraid. In a culture that often blurs moral lines, these books give children a picture of courage and compassion that is bright, memorable, and thoroughly enjoyable.