War Horse

Title: War Horse
Author: Michael Morpurgo
Series: Scholastic Gold
Major Themes: Horses, England, France, World War I
Synopsis: Joey, a beautiful horse, saw World War I from both sides of the front lines—and experienced the wonder of true friendship.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been seeing frequent posts where people are selling books by Michael Morpurgo. Their frequency made me think that a lot of people like this author, but I had never picked up one of his books. At a used book sale a few months ago, a friend who was there picked up a copy of War Horse and showed it to me, telling me it was very good—so of course I bought it and added it to my pile of books to vet before shelving them in our library. When I was figuring out what books to read recently for a reading challenge, I figured out a way to include this one, which ensured that I would read it.

Publisher’s description:

My thoughts:

I read War Horse in less than a day. The writing was masterful, which drew me in, and the story was compelling. Frankly, I was quite surprised by how much I liked this book. It is the story of a war about which not much is available, from an uncommon perspective. It is the story of a horse who experienced abuse, love, neglect, and care. It is the story of people—a man who cared more for drink than for his family, a boy whose only friend was a horse, a girl who had lost everyone she cared about, and many more. This is a powerful story about the power of love. The horrors of war are around the edges, and a few scenes border on graphic, but more of the story is about people loving and caring for the horses. Both sides of the conflict are portrayed, as the horse became a prisoner of war and then miraculously found his way back to his original side. Read this book if you love great horse stories, if you want a children’s book about World War I, or if you just plain enjoy a touching story.

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