A particularly fine copy, one of relatively few with the extra illustration at the front, initialled by John Lawrence. The story of the plight of some rabbits and their habitat, it was initially rejected by all the major publishing houses but when Collins finally did so, over 100,000 copies sold in the first year. The author was awarded both the Carnegie Medal from the Library Association and the Guardian Children's Fiction Award. The eponymous animated film, released in 1978 and directed by Martin Rosen, featured the voices of John Hurt, Richard Briers, Harry Andrews, Simon Cadell, Nigel Hawthorne, and Roy Kinnear, amongst others. The theme song, Bright Eyes, sung by Art Garfunkel, became a U. K. number one hit. In 1999 and again in 2018 it was made into a television series.