My aunt Jackie, may she rest in peace, said that she wouldn't read this book because she didn't like 'whimsy'. This is not a children's book, or at least not just one. The author acquires great power and flexibility by the use of talking animals. A fat, boring or clever human character is just that (except, perhaps in Dickens), but a fat, boring or clever rabbit benefits from our common understanding of rabbitness - both our accumulated feelings starting back with Peter and the fantastic world that must be created for them to live in.