Found a job lot of Michael Morpurgo books on eBay for a good price. I’m always in need of Childrens and teen books for My Dagenham Little Free Library, which is where this is destined for.

I’ve seen both a the version and the amazing stage play in London’s West End (the puppets were insane!), but this is the first time I’ve gone direct to the source material - the (audio) book. It blew me away all over again. Firstly I wasn’t expecting the narration to come direct from Joey. It’s actually a very clever perspective to show, as animals have an intimacy with events that humans just don’t. I know this is a childrens book, but it’s such a captivating mixture of a rural horse’s life in the 1910s and then being forced into battle the First World War with all the Bizarre and frightening events that entails. I think the author did a great job of capturing the emotion of the setting, the drama and intensity of a war zone, love and friendship. I was actually very pleasantly surprised by this book. There is a sequel called Farm Boy, which is the next audio book I have to listen to.

Restocking my Dagenham Little Free Library. Trying to keep a little something in it for everyone.

If you have picked up a book from here, You may have noticed there is a little hand written note/sticker inside with a unique number and direction to the BookCrossing website. In a nutshell, BookCrossing allows you the reader to become a part of the Books story. You can track the recorded movements of the book and add an opinion on the story. It’s free and you can do it anonymously. But if you join, you will get notified when the next reader journals it. You wouldn’t believe how far some books go!