In recommending the book, I now lead with “The two main characters, Heather and Picket, are attacked by wolves and…” Because the author cast his characters as rabbits, instead of humans, he can expose a younger group of readers to the tragic and profound brokenness of the world. My response to the bunny-barrier is to instead take the story seriously. However, once they get a few pages in, they are captured by the story and identify with the characters. As she has recommended The Green Ember to friends, we’ve noticed that boys, in particular, have a difficult time buying into the idea of rabbits with swords. My daughter reads a new book every couple days and recommends her favorites to friends. evil, fear and courage, justice and betrayal, the tension between siblings as they grow, true friendship, hope for a world mended and remade, and the part we each play in its remaking. We fight it on one front, and it sneaks around to our flank.” – Heather’s FatherĪ notable strength of The Green Ember, and what I’ve come to value most about the book, is its themes: good vs. Heather and Picket, however, need a community of friends and adult voices to guide their development. I found this refreshing because in so much of children’s literature, the voice of adults is absent, irrelevant, or an impediment. In The Green Ember, Heather and Picket need and value their elders’ guidance. The book has inspired the conversations every parent wants to have with their kids: conversations about telling the truth, the importance of our attitude, what it means to hope, and how we find our purpose. In other words, the storyline and characters captured their imaginations.Īs a parent, it’s the kind of story I want influencing their hearts and minds, to have this kind of power in their play. Wolves and hawks became the new bad guys, and because we only had a handful of stuffed animal rabbits, dolls and bears had to fill in for some of the good guys. They began to work the characters into their make-believe play. “Please, just one more chapter, Dad,” became their nightly request. My girls immediately fell in love with the story. I ordered a copy and we began The Green Ember when I returned to Colorado.

Because my kids are similar in age (mine were 6 and 9 at the time) I expected my girls would equally enjoy the book. At his announcement, they gathered around excited to hear the story told again. We’re re-reading The Green Ember.” I had never heard of the book, but his kids certainly had. Jared was getting his four young children ready for bed when he said, “Aaron, you should join us for our bedtime story. It is a story where their gifts are needed and their character matters.Įarly in the Spring of 2016, I was staying with my best friend, Jared, and his family, before he and I set out to hike a segment of the Appalachian Trail. Through a series of twists and turns Heather and Picket elude the wolves and arrive at a hidden outpost, Cloud Mountain, where they learn their lives are caught up in a much larger, more dangerous story. The Green Ember follows Heather and Picket, two young rabbit siblings, as they race to escape a pack of wolves who have just burned their home and captured their family. I’ll share the strengths of the story that have made me a fan, the four most common criticisms and concerns, and what I think you can expect if you family chooses to dive into the story of The Green Ember. In this review, I’ll share how I discovered the book and how my expectations were set. This is apparent from the hundreds of online reviews I’ve read of The Green Ember. The opinion we form of any book is greatly determined by the expectations we bring to it.

The green ember series book 4