'War Horse' by Michael Morpurgo
Publisher: Egmont
ISBN: 978-1-4052-2666-0
Length: 182 Pages
Opening Line: 'In the old school they use now for the Village Hall, below the clock that has stood always at one minute past ten, hangs a small dusty painting of a horse.'
The 'Blurb': 'A powerful story of the truest of friendships in the worst of wars from the award-winning former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo.'
Review:
Having seen the film adaptation of this novel, I was interested to see how it differs from the original text. The plot of the novel 'War Horse' may be slightly simpler than the film version, but I think it is its simplicity, that makes this book more powerful. Even though this is a children's book, Morpurgo doesn't dumb down the effect that the war has on the soldiers and horse involved in the fighting and neither does it glamourize it. I did have some trepidation about the fact that a horse is the narrator of this story, but I think it works. This isn't a cute story about a horse, but a powerful message that war is useless and not everyone who is involved, wants to be there.
Is this worth a read?
If you love animals or a book with heart, then yes I would suggest reading this book. It would also be a great book to share with children, to educate them about the effects of war.