An engrossing look at a war that sacrificed both horses and people.
Morpurgo adapts his 1982 novel for a younger audience.
Albert and Joey, his red bay, are bonded “like brothers.” Joey responds to Albert’s calls, and together, they work on the family farm in Devon, plowing, sowing, and harvesting. When war breaks out in Europe, Albert’s father, in need of money for the farm, sells Joey to the military. Albert, devastated, vows to one day reunite with Joey. He angrily leaves home and enlists in the army, lying about his age. Ensuing spreads depict Albert training for and entering World War I’s trench warfare. Joey’s fortunes are equally miserable as a cavalry horse. The narrative, heavily anthropomorphizing Joey throughout, tracks him as he and stablemate Topthorn are captured by the Germans. They pull an ambulance cart, spend a calmer summer on a farm, then endure grueling work pulling guns before garnering gentler treatment from German soldier Friedrich. Morpurgo’s sentimental treatment, matched by Disney-esque tableaux intermittently delivered in comics-style panels, nonetheless conveys war as barbaric and treacherous for all—human or animal. After a battle in which both Friedrich and Topthorn are killed, Joey races away, turning up on the wastes of the no man’s land between the warring armies. Albert and an English-speaking German soldier toss a coin for Joey, and Albert, the apparent winner, returns home with Joey at war’s end. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An engrossing look at a war that sacrificed both horses and people. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 7, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4052-9244-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Farshore/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
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BOOK REVIEW
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A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound.
The titular cookie runs off the page at a bookstore storytime, pursued by young listeners and literary characters.
Following on 13 previous How To Catch… escapades, Wallace supplies sometimes-tortured doggerel and Elkerton, a set of helter-skelter cartoon scenes. Here the insouciant narrator scampers through aisles, avoiding a series of elaborate snares set by the racially diverse young storytime audience with help from some classic figures: “Alice and her mad-hat friends, / as a gift for my unbirthday, / helped guide me through the walls of shelves— / now I’m bound to find my way.” The literary helpers don’t look like their conventional or Disney counterparts in the illustrations, but all are clearly identified by at least a broad hint or visual cue, like the unnamed “wizard” who swoops in on a broom to knock over a tower labeled “Frogwarts.” Along with playing a bit fast and loose with details (“Perhaps the boy with the magic beans / saved me with his cow…”) the author discards his original’s lip-smacking climax to have the errant snack circling back at last to his book for a comfier sort of happily-ever-after.
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0935-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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