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OverviewAn inspirational illustrated novel for younger readers from the 2002 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize-winning author of Thursday's Child. One morning in the woods of France, a blinded soldier is found by two sisters, Coco and Marcelle. In return for their kindness the soldier tells the sisters marvellous tales, connected with the keepsake he carries in his pocket: a tiny silver donkey. As the days pass and they struggle to help the soldier reach home, the sisters learn the truth behind the silver donkey and what the precious object means: honesty, loyalty and courage. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Sonya Hartnett , Laura CarlinPublisher: Walker Books Ltd Imprint: Walker Books Ltd Edition: New edition Dimensions: Width: 12.90cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 19.80cm Weight: 0.219kg ISBN: 9781406304299ISBN 10: 1406304298 Pages: 224 Publication Date: 03 November 2008 Recommended Age: From 8 to 11 years Audience: Children/juvenile , Children's (6-12) Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Temporarily unavailable The supplier advises that this item is temporarily unavailable. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out to you. Table of ContentsReviews* Some books seem to have always existed. The Silver Donkey is one of them. It's a timeless piece of storytelling, and reading it is like rediscovering a long-lost classic. The Guardian Some books seem to have always existed. The Silver Donkey is one of them. It's a timeless piece of storytelling, and reading it is like rediscovering a long-lost classic. * The Guardian * Some books seem to have always existed. The Silver Donkey is one of them. It’s a timeless piece of storytelling, and reading it is like rediscovering a long-lost classic. * The Guardian * Marcelle and Coco, two skinny, flash-eyed little girls, wild as kittens born under stables, aged ten and eight respectively, discover a blind British soldier, an army deserter, in the woods near their French village. It's WWI, and Lieutenant Shepard has not come out of the war with all his faculties intact. Hartnett's timely, haunting depiction of the grimness and waste of war, her piercing exploration of moral issues such as bravery verses cowardice and the importance of truth are curiously, though effectively, juxtaposed with an old-fashioned children's story. The girls and their 13-year-old brother secretly bring the soldier food and supplies, and, in spite of the danger, are determined to help him cross the Channel and return home. The Lieutenant's good-luck charm, a small silver donkey symbolizing different things to each character, is at the hub of this hard-to-define yet exquisitely written fable. Ostensibly a gift from his ailing little brother, it inspires the telling of four allegorical tales all of which feature clever, reliable, self-sacrificing donkeys. Thirteen quietly evocative black-and-white pencil illustrations complement the text. Hartnett's powerful imagery and her inimitable deftness with language lift this multi-genre work high off the ground. (Historical fiction. 10-14) (Kirkus Reviews) Some books seem to have always existed. The Silver Donkey is one of them. It's a timeless piece of storytelling, and reading it is like rediscovering a long-lost classic. The Guardian Author InformationSonya Hartnett is the author of the award-winning Thursday's Child (978-0-7445-5996-5), What the Birds See (978-0-7445-9093-7), Stripes of the Sidestep Wolf (978-0-7445-6594-2) and Surrender (978-1-84428-656-0). She lives in Australia. Laura Carlin studied for a degree in Illustration and in 2003 won the joint First Prize for Book Illustration in the Quentin Blake Illustration Awards. She lives in London. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |