But tragically the humans, seduced by the lies of The Wrong Ones (the fox clan), and aspiring to control the earth, betray the animals in their quest for power.
At this horrific moment, the outraged animals break their bonds of trust and deny the humans the right to understand their languages. Yet the wise animal ancients, not having lost all faith in humans, set about writing The Great Book under the auspices of Owl, the King of Perdiguier, and his Council. This legendary volume contains the key to understanding all animal languages, customs and traditions, and the animal ancients decree that it can only be opened by the future "Right Humans" if the final destruction of the great globe threatens.
The Great Book prophesies that, under human control of the planet, the air will one day turn black, the great seas shall grow warm and rise, and the earth must tumble back into the waters. Many species will be doomed to vanish and the race of Wrong Ones will come to control what is left of the dark globe.
But The Great Book also predicts that this tragedy can be reversed if the "Right Humans" were to return to the hill, and learn to understand, once again, the language of the animals. The humans and the animals would then be empowered to reverse the ancient prophesy and save the great globe.
IN NOW EARTH TIME, and in the beginning decade of this very century, Owl meets his trusted Council in the ancient graveyard at Perdiguier. He announces that the dire prophesy of The Great Book is coming to pass. It is crucial, he asserts, that the "Right Humans" be summoned back to the hill, where they will be advised by Karma the dog to discover the long hidden Great Book, and undertake the nine challenges set out by the animal ancients. The humans are to be guided in this mission by the mysterious motor-cycle riding Madame Aligot, a confectioner of potions, also known by the animals as She-Who-Becomes-Us.
Under the impression that they are simply on a summer holiday adventure, the chosen Jolicoing (pronounced Jolly-kwang) family of humans- Verbena, aged 11; Cosmos, aged 9; and their mother Zinnia and father Coriander - innocently arrive in Perdiguier from London. Before long they find themselves under the spell of the hill and settle down to live what they expect to be normal lives. But they soon find themselves caught up in events that are anything but normal, unravelling faster than they can make sense of them.
Madame Aligot insists that the Jolicoings develop their ‘mind’s eye’ and their other instincts so they can truly understand the world around them – just as the animals do. Only in this way, she explains, will the animals ever trust the family enough to allow them to comprehend their languages again.
The Jolicoings encounter a cast of idiosyncratic animals who one by one reluctantly engage with the humans in a series extraordinary adventures in which Perdiguier is slowly revealed in all its pagan and hypnotic magic.
In each of the successive three books, the door to the animal kingdom opens a little wider and the Jolicoings, through the prism of their 'mind’s eye', rediscover their instincts and re-establish their connection with nature and the animals. However, in so doing the stakes become higher. Danger becomes palpable as the Wrong Ones grow quietly stronger, and the family is forced to confront ever greater risks.
As the Jolicoing family are finally accepted by Perdiguier animal society and realize the enormity of the issues involved, each cannot help but wonder in their deepest, most private selves, whether they are indeed worthy to fulfill the ultimate mission set out for them, all those years ago, by the the animal ancients.