War Horse

by Michael Morpurgo

Book Overview

An unforgettable tale of war, redemption, and a hero's journey.War Horse joins the Scholastic Gold line, which features award-winning and beloved novels. Includes exclusive bonus content It is 1914,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0439796636
• ISBN13: 9780439796637
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Length: 165 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.7" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Moving Tale of Friendship and Hardship, Love and Loss

Joey's memories of his very first home, where he was born, are fuzzy, and his memories of his mom are sweet but not lasting. But his memories of his second home, where he found the boy Albert and his place on the farm, are powerful, as is the kinship that sprung up between Albert and himself. When WWI found the French army commandeering horses from the locals to head off into the calvary, Joey was at least lucky enough to be discovered by a captain who cared for him. But war is nasty, and war takes those we love, and soon enough Joey finds himself in the very worst of it, and not always alongside someone who cares. When he went off to war, young Albert vowed he'd come looking for him just as soon as he was old enough. Joey serves the armies on both sides in many fashions, and though there is hardship he also finds friends in unlikely places. Among them was his companion and best friend, Topthorn, a magnificent animal in his own right. (view spoiler) Written as a middle grade novel, this book is a moving tale of friendship, love, hardship, and loss, while exploring the horrors of war in a way that people of all ages can understand and respect. We follow the entire story from Joey's point of view, and though he is personified beyond just being given a voice, he's also an entirely appropriate narrator for these events. It didn't bother me that he is highly intelligent, or thinks much of himself, or that he is so strong and capable - he is a relatable character who feels fear and grief as well as joy and love, and he is a constant in a sea of change. Characters come and go as war rages on, but always we are with Joey. Trudging alongside Joey as he navigates the war-torn country of France brings home the realities of how truly terrible war is. Beyond the story of this horse, and the humans who loved him,though most of the war is described in circumstances that the characters find themselves, the larger politics of war (even larger than just that war) are touched upon. That part felt a bit simplified, though not untrue.

a great book

in my opinon war horse is a great book good story also unique elements. i recommend this book to teens and young adults. as with anything some will say is to much for teens but, i say it prepares them for the atrocities and unforgivingness of live. all in all is a great book with great plot and elements.

Best book ever

I would recommend War Horse to teenagers. In most books you get the humans point of view. In War Horse you get the horse point of view. So if you get the horse point of view you lear what they do during the war. Now if you don't like sad and harsh ideas i would not recommend this book to you.

an Amazing book

I recommend War Horse for teens and adults; it's an amazing book to read. War Horse is about war and which the book focuses on the horse's point of view and on the last war that we the United States stopped using horses in battle. War Horse the book that's about WW2 (World War Two) and the last book that horses were used in battle and it involves lots of death and sadness. But even though it involves death and sadness it's an amazing book to read.

best book i ever read.

i would recommend, War Horse, to teenagers and adults. Unlike most books, this one is in the point of view of a horse. This is different because the perspective shows what the animals is going through. Even though there is violence, it tells us about a war and shows how real war is for animals and humans.

My 10-year old son's favorite book ever!

When my reading-obsessed son turned to me and said, "this is the best book I've ever read", I knew I'd have to read it too! What a beautiful story. This book is as wonderful for an adult as it is for a 10 year old boy. I highly recommend it for all ages!

The Life and Times of Joey, the War Horse

"War Horse" is a story of courage and endurance by horse and man, conveyed through the destruction that is war. Told from the viewpoint of the horse, the story can draw in the most reluctant reader, as children often feel more empathy for animals than people. Because of descriptions of grueling labor and unsound working conditions for the horses, the book is best directed toward fourth grade and up. Joey, a gorgeous bay with four white stocking forelegs and a white cross on his forehead, is the War Horse. Albert is his 15-year-old human who trains and loves him. When his father sells the horse to the calvary for service in World War I, Albert swears to join when he is old enough and find Joey. The insanity of matching a cavalry of horses and riders with sabers against soldiers with rifles and machine guns has to be one of the most insane moments in war history!! One-fourth of the horses are killed in the first battle. All but two die in the next battle this cavalry faces. Joey and his equal, Topthorn, a huge black Arabian, survive, only to be taken as prisoners by the Germans. What Joey and Topthorn face as part of the team to pull the hospital cart to the battle front over and over is made right by kind treatment their German masters give to their wounds and injuries, and treat their fatigue at the end of day. Joey's worse experience comes when he and Topthorn and others must pull the artillery. Because these soldiers are dead tired themselves and also starving, they are not as attentive to the horses. The most horrifying scene occurs when Joey is totally alone and runs and runs from the sound of cannons until he is trapped in No Man's Land, a barren area between the French and English on one side and the Germans on the other. Two rolls of barbed wire separate the land from the trenches. Joey finds himself in this area. What transpires is an incredible and beautiful moment in the midst of an insane war. Of course, you must know that Albert is re-united with Joey. How that comes about is purely contrived, but welcome by a reader weary of the horrors of war for both man and horse. Last week a fourth-grader asked me for a really good book to read. I showed him several. When he saw "War Horse," he wanted it at once. The next day he told me, "This is a great book." He was already half-way finished. So I went home and read my copy. You will never look at a horse the same way again. Joey tells us about the people who tend him. Are they heavy-handed, hard, tender, kind, caring? What is it like with each type of person? What is it like to be a horse? But the best lesson is that horses are no longer used in battle!

Made me think of Black Beauty

I decided to pick up War Horse after the nice, new cover caught my eye in a local bookstore and immediately brought it home, cracked open the cover, and allowed myself to be swept off into Joey's story. I love the fact that this book comes directly from the "horses point of view," which is similar strikingly familiar to Black Beauty by Anna Sewell as to compared to Michael Morpurgo's War Horse. The story starts out with the description of a painting of a horse, and than jumps into the horse painted in the picture, Joey, who is bought by a farmer and brought home to Albert, who loves and cares for him similar to Joe Green did in Black Beauty. The stories end similar, with different twist. But we aren't focusing on Black Beauty here... Joey ends up being sold into war, where he learns the task of bearing men through the machine fire of war, dragging the dead away in carts and even being used to pull the cannons to the front lines. His life is hard, but he does the best he can under many different owners, the majority of them kind and caring, from going to the English to the Germans themselves, we see the innocence of the Deutschlanders struggle to fight the war against the British and the French. Joey also makes close friends with a fellow war horse called Topthorn, a tall, black stallion that seems a lot like Ginger. The two remain together for a long time, always partnered up and never too far away from the other. All the while Joey wonders about Albert. This is a nice story to read to anyone whom loves horses and there point of view on things. The war that Joey took part in was a frightening one and isn't for young children. I found this a nice read and a nice companion to Black Beauty. So if you love World War I, and horses, try picking up and reading War Horse.

A treasure from my childhood

Wow! What a thrill to find this book still available after over 40 years! I read it repeatedly when I was in about 4th grade. It says a lot about the quality of the story that it has stuck with me all these years. It really showed me at a young age the suffering that some animals must endure, and the quiet patience and courage with which they endure it. I can still picture Joey struggling in thick mud to pull his load. And even as young as I was, it made me understand more what my older uncles had experienced in WW1. I am definitely getting this for the kiddies, but before I give it to them, I am going to read it again myself!

"You mustn't think this is just another sweet horse story"

In my opinion, War Horse is one of the best books I've ever read. I read it in Dutch, named `Oorlogspaard'. (I'm Dutch, sorry for grammatical mistakes). When I began to read it, I first thought it was `just' a story about a horse. How sweet. But when I got further, I saw it's kind of historical too. And that's the reason I like it so much; the whole story could be true. Other books about horses are mostly all the same; it's about a young girl (or boy) and a horse and it always has a happy end.This book is different. It shows the first world war from an other point of view: a horse. The horse (Joey) doesn't understand that much about the war and wants to get out of it as fast as he can. He stays friendly, although the soldiers let him work very hard. War Horse is my favourite book and I think that many people would like it; it's not a story for horse-lovers only, you know.