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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dimwood.jpg]]
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3''Tales From Dimwood Forest'', also known as ''The Poppy Stories'', are a series of books aimed at young adults by prolific author Avi, centering around the inhabitants of the titular forest.
4
5The first title published was ''Poppy'', telling of the titular deer mouse and her family's troubles with the owl Mr. Ocax. After Ocax kills her fiance Ragweed, Poppy embarks on a quest to keep her family safe, befriending a porcupine named Ereth and freeing the forest of Mr. Ocax's extortionary reign in the process.
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7From there, the series deals with the consequences of Ragweed's death for Poppy and his family, while beavers are destroying their home. Poppy gains a {{love interest}} in Ragweed's brother Rye. Later books include a {{prequel}} about Ragweed and ADayInTheLimelight for Ereth.
8
9!!!The full series includes:
10* ''Poppy'' (1995)
11* ''Poppy and Rye'' (1998)
12* ''Ragweed'' (1999)[[note]]Chronologically, the first entry in the series[[/note]]
13* ''Ereth's Birthday'' (2000)
14* ''Poppy's Return'' (2005)
15* ''Poppy and Ereth'' (2009)
16* ''Ragweed and Poppy'' (2020)
17
18----
19!!Tropes found in ''Tales From Dimwood Forest'':
20* ActionGirl: Poppy learns to defend herself from much larger opponents by using weapons (namely Ereth's shed quills).
21* AndTheAdventureContinues: The ending to ''Poppy and Ereth''.
22* AnimalJingoism: Some of the predators hold speciesist prejudices against mice as a secondary or supporting reason for killing or eating them; Silversides the cat, for one, hates mice for their habits, boldness, and the way they've—in her view—come to "own" the city (and even the human house) she grew up in. It's to this end she and Graybar form a Klan-esque club to terrorise and kill as many city mice as they can manage, though no other city cats show interest.
23* AnimalTalk: Most of the animals can talk with each other, but not with humans.
24* AttendingYourOwnFuneral: Poppy in ''Poppy and Ereth'' does so to show that she is actually alive.
25* BabiesEverAfter: In the final chapter of ''Poppy'', Poppy is revealed to have had children with Rye.
26* BadassAdorable: Poppy is a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peromyscus deer mouse]], making her cute by default. By the end of the first book, she also fights a great horned owl and wins, a feat that from her perspective would not be far off from ''slaying a dragon''.
27* BatOutOfHell: Subverted by the bats in ''Poppy and Ereth''. They are often thought of as being unpleasant by other animals, but prove to be friendly [[spoiler:and end up saving the day]].
28* BearsAreBadNews: A bear and its cub briefly threaten Poppy in ''Poppy's Return''.
29* BigBad: Mr. Ocax in ''Poppy'', Castor Canad in ''Poppy and Rye'', Silversides in ''Ragweed'', and Marty in ''Ereth's Birthday''.
30* BigDamnHeroes:
31** Ereth, frequently.
32** [[spoiler:The fox kits save ''him'']] in ''Ereth's Birthday''.
33** Mephitis saves Poppy from a bear in ''Poppy's Return''.
34* BitchInSheepsClothing: The beavers pretend to be friendly and understanding, but actually care only about expanding their lake.
35* BlitheSpirit: Ragweed formerly served as this while with Poppy's family.
36* CallForward: In ''Ragweed'', the titular mouse is told that Dimwood Forest is a nice place, but he should look out for owls. It's noted that he wasn't paying attention.
37* CarnivoreConfusion: The series generally takes the "predation is a fact of life" approach. Interestingly, predators portrayed as being villainous often spin a variation on this, holding grudges against and manipulating specific individuals, and tend to have other agendas besides satisfying their hunger ([[FantasticRacism speciesist prejudice]], for one).
38* CatsAreMean:
39** Played with in ''Ragweed''. The villainess and TheDragon are cats with an agenda of destroying all mice, but when they try to recruit followers the rest of the city's cats aren't interested in joining them.
40** Averted in ''Poppy.'' Our heroine has a brief but friendly conversation with George the cat, getting some vital information from him. George is much too old to hunt, so he might have been more dangerous as a young cat, but given the tone of the series there was likely nothing malicious about it.
41* TheCavalry: [[spoiler:The bats]] in ''Poppy and Ereth''.
42* ChangedMyMindKid: [[spoiler:Ereth]] in ''Poppy and Rye''.
43* CharacterTics: Poppy's mother, Sweet Cicely, is mentioned to have one in that she constantly flicks at her ears "as if they were dusty."
44* CharacterTitle: ''Poppy'', ''Poppy and Rye'', ''Ragweed'', ''Poppy and Ereth''.
45* ChekhovsGun:
46** The water hose in ''Ragweed''.
47** The block of salt in ''Poppy''.
48** The boulder the mice move under in ''Poppy and Rye''.
49** The traps set by the trappers in ''Ereth's Birthday''.
50** [[spoiler:Ragweed's earring]] in ''Poppy and Ereth''.
51* ChekhovsGunman:
52** The fox that chases Poppy into Ereth's log in the first book gets a name (Bounder) and a larger role in ''Ereth's Birthday'' [[spoiler:and ''Poppy and Ereth'']].
53** The bats in ''Poppy and Ereth''.
54* ChekhovsSkill: Blinker's experience with running on a wheel.
55* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Mephitis isn't even mentioned in the last book.
56* TheCity: Amperville, the human city setting of ''Ragweed''. Its mouse population unsurprisingly lives in what to its humans is the ghetto or run-down part of town.
57* CoolOldGuy: Ereth, once one gets over his abrasive mannerisms. Poppy eventually becomes one as she ages.
58* CoolSword: [[spoiler: The quill Poppy gets from Ereth functions as a rapier; she even wears it around her waist on a grass belt.]]
59* DarkSecret: [[spoiler:Mr. Ocax is afraid of porcupines and the fake owl at New House. He lies to the mice about porcupines being bloodthirsty predators and stops them from moving to New House to prevent them from finding this out (and thus discovering ways to protect themselves from him).]]
60* DavidVersusGoliath: Whenever the mice go up against their much larger enemies.
61* ADayInTheLimelight: ''Ereth's Birthday'' for Ereth.
62* DeadGuyJunior: Ragweed Jr.
63* ADeathInTheLimelight: Narrowly averted for Ereth.
64* {{Deuteragonist}}: Rye is this to Poppy in ''Poppy and Rye''.
65* DistressedDude: [[spoiler:Rye is held hostage by the beavers for most of the climax in ''Poppy and Rye'']].
66* ADogNamedDog: Ereth's full name (Erethizon Dorsatum) is the scientific name of his species. Other examples include Castor P. Canad (from ''Castor canadensis''), Mephitis (from ''Mephitis mephitis''), and Lucifugus Myotis (from ''Myotis lucifugus'').
67* DoomedByCanon: Ragweed. Particularly jarring for those who start the series with ''Ragweed'', since he dies in the first couple pages of ''Poppy''.
68* TheDragon: Graybar for Silversides.
69* EnemyMine: [[spoiler:Bounder and Poppy in ''Poppy and Ereth''.]]
70* EvilOverlooker: Most of the books feature the villain at the top of the cover.
71* ExplosiveBreeder: The mice, duh. Poppy and Rye themselves have eleven children between them, and that's probably on the low end, so their extended families number into the high dozens or even the hundreds, evident whenever any extended family gathering or meeting is called.
72* FeatheredFiend: Mr. Ocax.
73* FinalExamFinale: ''Poppy and Ereth''.
74* FloralThemeNaming: The forest mice are all named after plants.
75* ForegoneConclusion: Since Rye was introduced as Poppy's husband in the final chapter of ''Poppy'', the reader knows he and Poppy will fall in love in ''Poppy and Rye''.
76* FreudianExcuse: Marty the fisher's entire family was killed by human hunters, and he despises porcupines because of their perceived LackOfEmpathy for the problems of others.
77* GenerationXerox: Ragweed Jr. Later on, ''his'' son Spruce.
78* GrumpyOldMan: Ereth.
79* HeelFaceTurn: Blinker. Not that he was ever malicious to begin with.
80* HerHeartWillGoOn: Ragweed for Poppy.
81* HeroicBSOD: Poppy's father, Lungwort, after Mr. Ocax presents him with a SadisticChoice: [[spoiler: let Poppy be killed by Ocax or have the rest of the mouse family starve]].
82* ImprovisedWeapon:
83** Ereth already uses his quills as weapons, but the mice make use of his ''shed'' ones as well.
84** They also use sticks, stones, and mud in the battle against the beavers.
85* IntergenerationalFriendship: Poppy and Ereth. Of course, Poppy, being a mouse, ages quickly and is quite old herself by the end of the series.
86* InterspeciesRomance: Poppy (a deer mouse) and Ragweed, and later Rye (both golden mice).
87* ItsAllAboutMe: Ereth often comes off as this and often has thoughts and rants that reinforce it, even despite his friendship with Poppy and his helping her and her loved ones out. This really takes off when he derails the eulogy planned for Poppy's funeral by making his short remarks about her … long and quite blatant remarks about ''himself''; of course, it could be his grief coping mechanism.
88* ItsPersonal: Marty the fisher doesn't like most porcupines, but considers Ereth the most obnoxious of them all.
89* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ereth, big time.
90* LighterAndSofter: The last two books have no true villain.
91* ALizardNamedLiz: Marty the Fisher's name may have been inspired by the scientific name of his species (''Martes pennanti'') at the time ''Ereth's Birthday'' was written. The fisher is [[ScienceMarchesOn now classified in]] the genus ''Pekania''.
92* TheLostLenore: Ragweed is a male example of this to Poppy.
93* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Clutch and Blinker.
94* MeaningfulName: Almost everyone. The forest mice tend to be named after plants that symbolize their personalities while the city mice are named after car parts. Several characters (notably Ereth) have names derived directly from their species' scientific names.
95* TheMole: Silversides forces Blinker to be one. Naturally, he isn't comfortable with it and does a HeelFaceTurn later.
96* OfficialCouple: Rye and Poppy.
97* OminousOwl: Mr. Ocax the great horned owl is the BigBad of the first book.
98* ParentalSubstitute: Ereth unwillingly serves as one for three fox kits for some time.
99* PartiallyCivilizedAnimal: The mice in particular are portrayed this way. They have somewhat human-like social structures, occasionally use tools (e.g.: weaponizing sticks and shed porcupine quills), and some individuals wear accessories, but their overall behavior and concerns still reflect the fact that they are mice.
100* PluckyGirl: Poppy.
101* PredatorsAreMean: Other than the beavers, all the antagonists are predators of the main characters. Interestingly though, said antagonists tend to have other personal reasons for harming the heroes besides just hunger.
102* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: Poppy in ''Poppy and Ereth''.
103* SatelliteLoveInterest: Played straight and subverted with Rye. It's played straight in that his very first appearance is in the last chapter of ''Poppy'', where he's introduced in only the final few pages as Poppy's husband and the father of her children, with nothing known about him beyond that, but it's subverted in ''Poppy and Rye'', where he gets a personality and backstory.
104* ScrewPolitenessImASenior: Ereth.
105* SecondLove: Rye is this for Poppy.
106* SettleForSibling: Poppy eventually marries Rye, Ragweed's younger brother.
107* ShownTheirWork: The animals' habits and appearances are portrayed extremely accurately.
108* SmellySkunk: Mephitis.
109* SnowMeansDeath: In ''Ereth's Birthday'', Leaper, the vixen, who dies as a result of getting caught in a human hunters' steel trap, in the middle of a harsh winter. She already lost a lot of blood when Ereth happens upon her. [[spoiler:Ereth himself nearly gets killed by Marty the Fisher if not for Leaper's kits (whom she asked him to care for) saving him.]]
110* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler:Ragweed]] in ''Poppy'', [[spoiler:Rye]] in ''Poppy and Ereth''.
111* TemptingFate: Ragweed's last words: "Poppy, you may be my best girl, but admit it, you don't know how to live like I do."
112* ThemeNaming: The forest mice tend to be named after plants, whereas the city mice are named after car parts. The villains tend to be named after the Latin name of their species.
113* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Salt for Ereth. TruthInTelevision; porcupines are ''crazy'' about salt.
114* TragicKeepsake: Ragweed's earring. Which ironically belonged to Clutch, but Poppy never finds that out.
115* TheUnsmile: The perpetually-unsmiling Ereth, naturally, when he forces himself to smile in the run-up to Poppy's (supposed) funeral service.
116* UnusualEuphemism: Ereth supplies an infinite number of these in his frequent rants.
117* VehicularThemeNaming: The city mice are named after car ''parts''.
118* VillainousGentrification: The beavers' dam and pond, which flood out the Brook's other animal residents (in particular its golden mouse community) and force them to move. The planned beaver lodges are even named "Canad's Cute ''Condos''".
119* WelcomeToTheBigCity: Ragweed's installment.
120* WellDoneSonGuy: Rye.
121* WickedWeasel: Though not quite a weasel, Marty the Fisher is a villainous mustelid.
122* TheWorfEffect: After doing the BigDamnHero part in the previous two books he appeared in and generally being an irritable grump who does whatever and goes wherever he wants, Ereth is stalked and attacked by a fisher, the one predator that knows how to reliably hunt porcupines, in his own DayInTheLimelight.
123* WouldHitAGirl: Mr. Ocax has no qualms with trying to kill Poppy. Nor does Bounder. Which is to be expected, as they are [[PredatorsAreMean predators]] and food is food regardless of what gender it is.
124* XenophobicHerbivore:
125** Speciesism in the series is hardly limited to its predators, as Lungwort's ill-informed, irrational, hatred or fear of porcupines as supposed quill-shooting mouse-eaters also attests.
126** Then there's Ereth, of course; while he's already curmudgeonly towards nearly everyone, he particularly despises hunters and predators (especially ever since befriending Poppy), the fox kits he ends up babysitting being a rare exception.
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