A sweet, simple story of a young German boy at the tail end of World War 2, rescuing a dog who had been strapped with explosives and surviving through the allied forces' occupation as the war ended.
It could be just another WW2 story for children, but I managed to make its mark.

What I really enjoyed about it was the final time jump, of Bruno reflecting back on his experiences as an older man, and the comparisons made to the journeys of Syrian refugees at the time.

I do feel more could have been done with this idea, but I still really enjoyed it. It's incredibly hard to get a whole fantastical adventure story in such a small and easily accessible book. Yes, I would have preferred a more cohesive ending, or even a definite 'and it was all a dream'. Yes, I also think there were elements missed: the Owl Parliament was very clever, as a group of owls is indeed called a parliament, yet unlike the meaning behind nocturnal, this was not shared with the reader.

However, I still can't help but really like it! I love Aneira as a character, I love cuddly Mrs O. I even love the slow talking Wise Owl!

I of course especially enjoyed the inclusion of Aneira's hearing loss, how she uses hearing aids to help we day to day, and the overall discussions of that part of her throughout the story.

So, whilst it wasn't a stand out star of my bookshelf, I still can't help but love it, and I can imagine children would too which is what truly matters (they are definitely not as picky as us adults).

Considering I am not a big fan of historical fiction, and even less so of war stories, this is definitely my favourite I have ever picked up.
Unsurprisingly, another work of art from Morpurgo.

I intensely resonated with the main character's lack of enthusiasm for war, and really felt like I went on the journey with him. The use of Shakespeare throughout was simply an added bonus.

I really enjoyed this /little gem/.
It definitely felt like an early reader, in that the plot was very simple and short, but for a pocket size adventure I thought it worked really well.
It wasn't particularly developed, and as the reader I don't feel I learnt a lot about the characters, so if that's a big thing for you it might feel underwhelming.
But, even so I really enjoyed the short but wild ride. It felt almost like a small but intense rollercoaster - not exactly the most thrilling, but I would definitely ride it again and again.

I could easily imagine a longer series of adventures with these characters that properly fleshed them out a bit more, and I am particularly of Melanie Demmer's art style.