Survey-ish

[Melania]

Hey, Redwallers! I'm getting ready to write a paper about Brian Jacques and the Redwall series and how it has affected peoples' lives, and I was hoping you could help me out. I started reading Redwall when I was about ten and have, at this point, read most of them at least three times, and a few of them more than that. I'd love to get a few more opinions and information about when other people started reading them, how the books impacted your lives, and any other information you'd like to share about the series. Thank you so much!

- Melania

[The Skarzs]

Hello, Melania, and welcome to the forum! Hopefully you can stick around for a while.

  My first contact with Redwall was the animated series that my grandmother had recorded for us. I always loved the animation and was fascinated to find out there was a book series. Unknown to me we had the first three books on our bookshelf, and when I was alerted to their presence, I immediately started reading.
  While I can't say they changed my life, they were charming stories and helped my own writing along with the usage of description. My favorite book was Mossflower, the book I feel has the best conflict and characters. The honor showed was admirable, and I must say that I wanted to be like a lot of those good characters.
  Mr. Jacques' writings inspired me to start a book of my own, and I hope it to be worth something. I also was compelled to draw some characters from his books, and with practice I am where I am at now in my art capabilities.

I hope I can have helped with your assignment.

[Firehawke]

I was first introduced to the series through the animated show.  Shortly after, I started reading the books, which was a huge help for me since at the time I was moving and starting college.  My love for the series was such that when it came time to work on my thesis for my Master's degree in English, I chose to write about the series and what children can learn from the books.  Even now, the series is still one of my favorites.  When I'm needing a cozy/familiar read (or listen...I have a lot of time to listen to the books and I have all of the ones that are available on CD), they're my go to books.  A lot of life has happened in the 15 years since I've discovered the series and the books have been there as a way to escape my troubles for a time.

Good luck with your assignment!!!

[Melania]

Thank you both so much for taking time to respond! This will definitely help me out.

[SoranMBane]

Well, my first introduction to Redwall was through the animated series. I actually have pretty distinct memories of watching it in my dad's truck (my dad was a cross-country truck driver back then, you see, so I would often spend my summer vacations traveling with him; I spent a lot of the time watching PBS on the tiny tv he had, and Redwall ended up being my favourite show there). When summer ended and I got to visit my elementary school's library (I think I was about seven), I picked up the first book (which would be the first real novel I'd ever read), and the series has been with me ever since; I've read every novel in the series at least once.

Reading these books has honestly had a shockingly huge influence on me; it influenced my taste in literature (I mostly read talking animal stories as a kid), the amount of time I spent as a kid shooting targets with my bow or using a stick to have pretend sword fights with trees (and my subsequent interest in medieval weaponry in general), my desire to write my own stories. All of it almost certainly came from reading the Redwall books.

And now, here I am as an adult, still reading these silly talking mice books for babbies while I'm in the process of writing my own novel about a snarky crow detective.