Take your family to see the movie, War Horse. Better yet, read the book out loud with your family and then go see the movie. This way your children can critique the movie based on the book. You may be able to find a paperback copy at the public library; however, there is an electronic copy that you can download as you read this blog. Hub City and Barnes and Noble in Spartanburg are out of stock unless you have an ereader. Maybe you can find a friend with a copy. I’ve got one. Email me clmonner@gmail.com or call me 680-4306 and it’s yours.
Scholastic published this novel back in 2007. One of our students, Evans, who has read all the horse books in our library, said she loved reading the book. A couple years later I finally read it (Sorry, Evans) and I can see why she liked it so much. There are no vampires, werewolves or wizards; just humans and animals. And, a strong message of friendship,caring, hope, courage and persistence.
The story does include violence and the historical horrors of WWI battles, however, with a book, the violence is whatever your imagination creates. Therefore any age would like reading or hearing the story. Not sure about the movie. It is rated PG so the battlefield visuals are probably not appropriate for very young children.
Morpurgo has written the story with the horse as the narrator. At first I was not sure I would like reading it from the horse’s point of view. But, I loved it. This is the horse's journey from the farm to the battlefields. The author has written over 100 books. Five of them have been made into films. After the army he taught for ten years then left to start writing and set up “Farms for City Children” with his wife. The concept is to bring inner city school children to the farm and teach them to work with animals.
A rewarding story (an hopefully movie) for the holiday break. Here’s the trailer on YouTube. Let me know what you think if you go see it.
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