{"product_id":"toro-toro","title":"Toro! Toro! By Michael Morpurgo","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the Publisher\u003cbr\u003eMichael Morpurgo is the author of more than 60 children's books, including\u003cbr\u003eWaiting for Anya and Kensuke's Kingdom. Michael Foreman, whose books include\u003cbr\u003ethe acclaimed War Boy, is a recipient of the Whitbread Award, the Writers'\u003cbr\u003eGuild Children's Book Award, and the Smarties Prize; he was also shortlisted\u003cbr\u003efor the Carnegie Medal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSchool Library Journal\u003cbr\u003eAs a youngster, Antonito lived on a small farm outside the village of Sauceda.\u003cbr\u003eHis father raised strong black bulls for the bullring, or corrida. The boy\u003cbr\u003ebonded with a newborn calf after its mother died, and in order to save it, he\u003cbr\u003eled Paco into the surrounding hills. While they were away, Franco's soldiers\u003cbr\u003ebombed the village. Leaving Paco behind, Antonito returned home, discovering\u003cbr\u003ethe farm in flames. He escaped back into the safety of the countryside, but\u003cbr\u003ecouldn't find the calf. Weeks later, suffering from hunger and exhaustion, he\u003cbr\u003ewas found by his Uncle Juan, a Republican soldier, and nursed back to health.\u003cbr\u003eWhile recuperating, he heard a tale of a large black bull that chased down\u003cbr\u003eNationalist soldiers, and he hoped that it was Paco. Years later, after he\u003cbr\u003edreamed that the creature rested next to him while he slept in the forest, he\u003cbr\u003eawakened to discover hoof marks of a massive bull in the still-warm grass.\u003cbr\u003eMorpurgo's action-filled novel packs an emotional punch. The author gradually\u003cbr\u003ereveals the historical information and narrates the tale with the careful\u003cbr\u003edetachment of someone relating a story so awful that he can hardly bear to tell\u003cbr\u003eit. Ideal for reluctant readers, this book focuses on the loss and grief that\u003cbr\u003egrows out of times of war.-Shawn Brommer, South Central Library System,\u003cbr\u003eMadison, WI Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003cbr\u003eA young child sees violence done in the bull ring, and worse violence to his\u003cbr\u003esmall town, in this powerful, simply written tale by Britain's Children's\u003cbr\u003eLaureate, set during the Spanish Civil War. Horrified to learn that the corrida\u003cbr\u003einvolves not just a dance, but a death, six-year-old Antonito returns to his\u003cbr\u003efather's farm outside the village of Saucedo, determined to save his beloved\u003cbr\u003ebull Paco from such a bloody fate. But by sneaking out to free Paco and the\u003cbr\u003erest of his father's herd early one morning, he becomes a witness as Saucedo is\u003cbr\u003ebombed, and the survivors massacred, by Franco's forces. Foreman ably captures\u003cbr\u003eAntonito's innocence, devastation, and slow recovery in black-and-white\u003cbr\u003evignettes; Morpurgo likewise delineates the close relationship between boy and\u003cbr\u003ebull, and the shock of being swept up in war, in ways that will resonate with\u003cbr\u003eyounger readers. Compelling. (Fiction. 9-11)\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Collins","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51273166356763,"sku":"9780007107186","price":8.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0915\/4363\/4203\/files\/toro-toro-by-michael-morpurgo-2113948.jpg?v=1781794146","url":"https:\/\/abcschoolsupplies.co.uk\/products\/toro-toro","provider":"ABC School Supplies ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}