Review by Frank Plowright

Keith Brumpton published two stories starring adventurous rabbit Rudley Cabot in 1994 and 1995, and the lack of follow-up indicates children didn’t take Rudley to their hearts. It’s easy enough to see why. Brumpton’s drawing is the type of style that would work for children’s comics, but it’s limited by no thinking beyond telling the story, so the pages lack life or decoration and given the large choice of children’s books, those are key factors.

The plot has the same lack of care and attention, with random occurrences at convenient stages. This is established from the very start, when Rudley’s sister Cabbra sets events in motion by discovering a never previously seen locked door in the attic of their burrow. It’s the study of their grandfather, the even more adventurous Bob Cabot, holder of several space speed records, and whose ship the Golden Carrot disappeared years previously. Rudley decides it’s time to locate the Golden Carrot, and in no time has acquired his own space ship. Rudley’s journey is complicated by the machinations of space pirate Captain Weasel, and a series of mishaps.

Much of the story will be predictable even for younger readers, although that’s empowering for them, and while it has its silly moments there’s not enough of them to compensate for the one-dimensional characters and straightforward run through of events.

Rudley Cabot did get a second outing in The Carrots of Doom, but that’s to do with publishers of children’s books liking a series and commissioning both at the same time, rather than this being a resounding success.