War Horse Paperback – 8 May 2012

War Horse is an amazing book by Michael Morpurgo! I like War Horse because there is a lot of action. Have you read War Horse? Well if you haven't you should definitely read it, it's amazing! it is a book and film. The book are film are slightly sad in places. When Joey gets sold to a man who works on a farm he finds his son Albert and they become best mates and then Albert teaches Joey how to work on the farm. Then unfortunately Joey gets sold to the war where his new best friend Captain Nicholls dies and he is needed to pull hospital carts. The Germans let Emile and her Grandpa look after him. Then they go with the Germans again to pull guns and Topthorn ( Joey's companion) dies. Joey gets stuck in barbed wire and hurts his leg and is sent back to Emile and her Grandfather but Emile has died! Then Emilie's Grandfather sells Joey back to Albert. I feel very deeply for Joey because of everything he has been through. I also feel for Albert because he loved Joey and one day he just got taken away. i think you should read this book because it is amazing. Personally I think the book is better than the film because the film is frightening in places. i would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 5.

This was one of those books that I had been meaning to read for a while and as my 9-year-old niece is currently reading it I downloaded a copy last night and finished it this morning – and I loved every page.It was as brilliant and I thought and hoped it would be. I loved the way that Joey’s story was told and the way that the Great War is also discussed and you see it from his view.It is very well written and I would have stayed up to finish the book in one sitting had I not needed to get up for work the next day. It is a poignant and moving story and it really does show what some of these horses went through. I was lucky to read a book previously on animals in the Great War and they really do deserve a lot more acknowledgment and credit.Worth all the praise I have seen it given in the past by other readers. It is 5 stars from me for this one and another tick on my wish to read more classics this year - very highly recommended!!

Although this is intended as a children's book, it has plenty for the adult reader, offering more depth than many books written for adults for adults. The narrative style is sufficiently engaging that it has great potential for reading at a single sitting.Making Joey, the (war) horse, the narrator was a brilliant move on Michael Morpurgo's part, since it simultaneously encourages children to think about the effect of their actions on others (for who could not empathise with Joey?) and helps to show that neither humanity - nor not a lack of it - observes geographical or political borders.Children will learn a lot about the First World War and readers young and old will appreciate the various roles of the horse in warfare on both sides. An excellent read.

Christmas holidays reading project for my year six daughter - she found the language and read tough, but it was a lovely story for us to read together. We took it in turns to read out loud and paused often to ensure she knew what was happening and what the words meant. Her vocabulary definitely grew and she has since recalled and reviewed several characters and plot lines in school writing so it had a lasting impact vs some other reads she forgets about within a few days. we also enjoyed watching the DVD to consolidate the knowledge and she is now looking forward to a school trip to see it in the theatre in London.

A great rendition of a classic

A truly different angle of a war, seen from the angle of a horse. A horse taken from a boy that loves him and not just getting thrown into the midst of strangers, but also straight in to a war. From calm, rural England to a noisy, dirty, cold France where he isn't always fed. The Captain that is supposed to look after him, gets shot out of the saddle in the first battle when it stands clear, that Cavalry and horses has no place in this new kind of warfare with machine guns, trenches and later on, tanks.Joey, the war horse, ends up as prisoner of war together with his friend Topthorn. They draw ambulances and get looked after at night by a French farmer and his grand-daughter. The soldiers do their best in caring for them too even though they have never taken care of horses before. But soon the horses are passed on to a Gunnery unit and there is no food for them, no shelter and no care. They are dispensable which soon means the death for many of them including Topthorn. Joey is lucky and flees from the front ending up in a British Veterinary unit where he can heal from wounds and wait out the war.The book is very touching. I cried when Joey is re-united with the young farm-boy that he grew up with and once again at the end of the book. Few books do that to me. And it doesn't mean that the book had an unhappy ending!The book makes you think about how war is started by men and fought by them but poor defenseless animals can't choose to join up themselves. Still they have been used in both WWs and while they have not understood what was going on, they have had to feel fear and have had to die painful deaths. They have been treated very poorly by some since not everyone KNOWS how to look after animals even though in charge of them, and people have always been considered more important when food and shelter are scarce. The book in other words make you think!

Such an amazing book. Saw the film twice. At first the book was rather weird as it is written from the horses view point, but after a bit I got over it and became entranced. Really gives you an insight into the First World War and the horrific conditions both man and horse faced at the front. Every person should read this book. A must read