Printed in book form, their ability to haunt and strike the eye is not lost-and I can almost hear and see the lights and the sounds from that stage spectacle, as the story unfolds in page form. Her designs for the theatre production are raw, stark and emotionally overwhelming. Presented in a hard cover, medium size format with dust jacket, I love that the designer for the theatre production, the immensely talented Rae Smith, was tasked with illustrating this heart-rending story. In this new, illustrated version of the middle grade novel, Morpurgo's astonishing work is made more attractive to younger readers, or at least those daunted by endless text. Of course, there will always be books we've 'missed' along our reading journey, but War Horse is simply unmissable. Not only was the show incredible, it was the story of War Horse that undid me-and left me with this simple question-why had all these years passed and I hadn't I read that book? On the way back to Canberra in the car, she devoured the post-event novel while I sat in the front seat, shaken, stirred and dazed at the incredible spectacle of that theatre production.

She was overwhelmed with excitement, and was star struck by the show. Michael Morpurgo has written more than one hundred books for children and won the Whitbread Award, the Smarties Award, the Circle of Gold Award, the Children's Book Award and has been short-listed for the Carnegie Medal four times.My daughter received the surprise of her life when we presented her with tickets to see War Horse at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney this year.

War Horse is a story of universal suffering for a universal audience by a writer who 'has the happy knack of speaking to both child and adult readers' - Guardian As we move beyond centenary commemorations and continue to strive for peace across the world, it remains an important book for young readers learning about the past. For 40 years, War Horse has been helping children understand conflict. This powerful book for younger readers tells the enduring story of a friendship between a boy and his horse amid the turmoil of the First World War. War Horse celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2022! A richly illustrated gift picture book edition of Michael Morpurgo's classic wartime story War Horse, which has been captivating audiences young and old for 40 years.

War horse illustrated book