War Horse

By: Michael Morpurgo

Narrated by: John Keating

Length: 4 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1914, a beautiful foal with a distinctive cross on his nose is sold to the Army and thrust into the midst of the war on the Western front. But his heart aches for Albert, the farmer's son he left behind. Will he ever see his true master again?

©1987 Michael Morpurgo (P)2010 Scholastic Audio

I absolutely love it.

I absolutely love this book, along with the movie of course too. There are some books I wish I could just forget everything that I have read so it would be fresh again, and this is one of those books for sure.

Great "Read"!!

What made the experience of listening to War Horse the most enjoyable?

Great to review the book after watching the movie. The two compliment each other very well. Great to hear a book written from an animal's perspective and the reader does a great job of bringing life and emotion to the characters.

From The Horse's Mouth

This novel describe the horrors of war and shows that even a beautiful treasured animal like War Horse cannot escape without wounds. However, the author does give War Horse a voice.

Touching

What made the experience of listening to War Horse the most enjoyable?

The storyline had a nice flow.

What was one of the most memorable moments of War Horse?

When the war stops for a brief moment because of one horse and the humanity on both sides of the battlefield.

What about John Keating’s performance did you like?

The individual voices were very distinctive and believable.

Amazing

Would you listen to War Horse again? Why?

I plan to listen again in the near future, grat books always deserve a second listen!

What was one of the most memorable moments of War Horse?

The ending was so heart wrenching I cried out causing my daughter to ask what was going on!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were several, each time the horse got torn away - from his mother to stall mates, to people in his path, each one moved me in a slightly different way. The ending tore your heart apart and brought peace at the same time! I loved this book.

This book was not my personal favorite

This book has to many deaths it’s so sad!
I don’t like this book personally but I don’t have the same opinion as
everyone.

Wonderful

As part of my WW1 reading I came across this story about a War Horse in WW1 so decided to read it. The narrator, John Keating did a great job reading the story. The story is told from the point of view of the horse just like Black Beauty. The use of the horse Calvary in WW1 was a good example of trying to fight the with the equipment and tactics of the past. Machine guns, tanks and gas made the use of the war horse a disaster. The story has Joey following another war horse through the German lines. He is captured and becomes a German war horse then later he returns to English hands. The boy that raised him joins the army veterinary corp in a hope to find Joey. Read the story you will find it interesting as just a story but you can also learn a bit of history.

Enjoyable

John Keating as always, did a fabulous job of narration.

As an avid horse lover I am always looking for another great horse book. This book is written from the point of view of a horse during WWI and tells of the harsh realities faced by both people and the horses. It doesn't go into so much detail that it wouldn't be safe for children however.

Good story; poor performance.

Good story for Jeveniles who like anthropomorphic animal stories (I do).
PRO: A great story that actually teaches about the Western Front of WWI. A satisfying ending.
CON: The strange decision of the narrator to give the horse an accent. The human accents are appropriate and resonably good. But I could not get used to the idea of a horse having a strange, distracting West Country voice. I would have preferred the reader to use his mormal voice for the horse.

A different perspective!

Would you consider the audio edition of War Horse to be better than the print version?

Sound effects and different voices always add to the pleasure of listening rather than reading.

What did you like best about this story?

It was from the perspective of the horse! Can't say I have ever experienced such! It was very unique and interesting.

Which character – as performed by John Keating – was your favorite?

The main character

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but I couldn't due to time constraints.