Introduction

Poppy is a middle-grade animal fantasy novel by veteran children’s writer Edward Irving Wortis, better known by his pen name Avi. Poppy was the first book published in the Dimwood Forest series in 1995, but it is third in the series’ chronological sequence. It is preceded narratively by Ragweed (1999) and Ragweed and Poppy (2020). The series uses its recurring animal characters to build on overarching themes like friendship and family, coming of age, and heroism and standing up to others.

Poppy follows the eponymous mouse Poppy, who lives with her family under the control of Mr. Ocax. Mr. Ocax is a great horned owl who terrorizes and manipulates the mice into willingly remaining under his control so that he can prey upon them as he pleases. When Mr. Ocax eats Poppy’s fiancé Ragweed and refuses her family permission to move to new territory, Poppy embarks on a quest to discover the owl’s weakness and free her family from his influence. Her quest proves the power of love to help one make brave choices and see new paths and brings her to important truths about fear and the nature of both heroism and tyranny. Throughout her adventures, Poppy learns the importance of challenging assumptions about unjust power systems.

This guide uses the 1995 Orchard Books first hardcover edition.

Plot Summary

The novel opens with Mr. Ocax, a great horned owl who rules over the Dimwood Forest with an iron fist. He relishes in the terror he inspires in the forest’s creatures, but particularly in the mice, who are forbidden from moving freely about the forest without Mr. Ocax’s express permission. When Poppy and her boyfriend, the free-thinking Ragweed, break Mr. Ocax’s rules to go dancing on Bannock Hill, the owl murders and eats Ragweed. Poppy escapes, and Mr. Ocax vows to punish her for challenging his despotic rule.

Poppy returns to Gray House, the abandoned farmhouse she and the rest of the mice call home. They live under the leadership of Poppy’s father Lungwort, who accepts without question the illusions Mr. Ocax has fed him over the years. Mr. Ocax claims that his rules are instituted for the mice’s safety; without him, they would be vulnerable to worse predators, like the vicious porcupine. Lungwort believes Mr. Ocax to be a benevolent protector and will not tolerate anyone questioning the owl’s authority or motives. When Poppy relays the news of Ragweed’s death to her father, he is unsympathetic; Ragweed’s questioning and unconventional nature were always offensive to Lungwort, and he thinks Ragweed deserved his death because he broke Mr. Ocax’s rules.  

The mouse population at Gray House has grown beyond what their territory can support, forcing them to consider relocation. Lungwort leads a delegation to ask Mr. Ocax for his permission to move into New House, a recently-constructed farmhouse on the other side of Dimwood Forest. Poppy is disgusted by her father’s obsequious attitude toward Mr. Ocax, especially in the wake of Ragweed’s murder. Mr. Ocax denies the mice’s request, citing Poppy and Ragweed’s disobedience as the cause. However, Poppy detects a note of unease in the owl’s voice when Lungwort mentions New House.

Suspecting that Mr. Ocax is hiding something about New House, Poppy sets off without permission to discover the true reason for his refusal of Lungwort’s request. Meanwhile, Mr. Ocax broods over the situation: Do the mice know what he knows about New House? He spots Poppy as she travels through Dimwood Forest and attempts to catch her. Unsuccessful, he flies to New House and sees something that shatters all his hopes.

In the Dimwood Forest, Poppy encounters Ereth, a real-life porcupine. Her friendship with the prickly creature reveals some of Mr. Ocax’s lies. Poppy learns that porcupines do not even eat meat; they were never a threat to mice in the first place. In fact, Mr. Ocax himself fears Ereth, because the porcupine’s quills could damage the owl’s eyes, which are Mr. Ocax’s most valuable hunting asset. After learning that Ereth is addicted to salt, Poppy persuades her new friend to accompany her to New House for the reward of obtaining the salt lick in the yard.

Poppy learns Mr. Ocax’s secret shortly after arriving at New House: another owl has taken up roost there. This owl is much larger than Mr. Ocax, obviously posing a threat to him. However, after closer observation, Poppy realizes the owl is fake. Although Mr. Ocax terrorizes the mice, he’s the truly frightened one—frightened of a fake owl and frightened of losing his control over his source of prey.

Mr. Ocax confronts Poppy at New House. Using one of the quills from Ereth’s tail, Poppy defends herself and stabs Mr. Ocax; in his desperation to dislodge the quill, he flies straight into the salt lick and dies. Poppy collects the salt for Ereth and claims one of Mr. Ocax’s tail feathers as commemoration of her victory. She returns home and announces to her family that they can all safely move to New House.

Approximately one year later, Poppy, her husband Rye, their children, and Ereth gather on Bannock Hill, the place where it all began. A tree has sprung up there, sprouted from a hazelnut Ragweed dropped moments before his death. Poppy and her family dance beneath the moonlight, celebrating their hard-won freedom.