Sam's Duck

There is little extraordinary in the tale of a city boy (incidentally black) spending a week on a farm, rescuing a duck from the market and bringing it home with him. Except in the telling: and when the storyteller is Morpurgo, whose other life has been dedicated to running such a farm in Devon, you have every right to expect the extraordinary. Nor will you be disappointed. He knows just how much to say and how much to leave to the illustrator. And, through Bowen's paintings, you are there with Sam, seeing and hearing the lumbering weight of the bull, feeling the confinement of the cow in the milking stall and the routine indifference of the animal handlers at the market. This is the country of dark, cold mornings, muck and sweat, from which you learn the value of tending living things: how to be caring but not sentimental. For junior school children who are never lucky enough to meet Morpurgo in his farmer's hat, this will be more than an acceptable substitute.