The Pigeon Spy

by Terry Deary

Stories of the First World War from the bestselling Terry Deary, author of the hugely successful Horrible Histories. Flanders 1918. The extraordinary true story of a pigeon who saved nearly 200 lives. A troop of Americans are trapped behind enemy lines. Not only are their German enemies firing at them but so are their own side. Somehow they have to get a message to their comrades. The only way is by pigeon. But every time a pigeon rises in the air it is shot down. The last pigeon, a black bird called Cher Ami, flies with bullets zipping through the air all around him, covering 25 miles in just 65 minutes, helping to save the lives of the 194 survivors. In his epic journey he is shot through the breast, blinded in one eye, and left with a leg hanging only by a tendon. Army medics save his life. They can't save his leg, so they carve a small wooden one for him. When he recovers, the pigeon is put on a boat to the United States, a hero. Astonishing true tale of animals at war from master historical storyteller Terry Deary, for 7+.

Genres: Childrens

64 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

A former actor, theatre-director and drama teacher, Deary says he began writing when he was 29. Most famously, he is one of the authors of the Horrible Histories series of books popular among children for their disgusting details, gory information and humorous pictures and among adults for getting children interested in history. Books in the series have been widely translated into other languages and imitated.

A cartoon series has been made of the series of books and was shown on CiTV for a period in 2002.

The first series of a live-action comedy sketch show of the same name was shown on CBBC in 2009 and a second series is due.

Terry is also known widely throughout children and adult reading groups alike for his True Stories series (see below for series list).

He received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from the University of Sunderland in 2000. His numerous accolades also include the Blue Peter "Best Nonfiction Author of the Century" Award in the U.K.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another briefly and succinctly told cracking yarn from Deary, featuring world war one as his historical stage yet again, and making history come alive on the canvas of his pages. A credit to historians everywhere for making this come alive to young readers, and hopefully encourage some of them to read history as they progress to the upper levels of school and university.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

An account of how a pigeon saved a group of soldiers.

The story was fascinating but lacked depth.

Reading time around thirty minutes.

[Abi Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

funny!

[Heather France · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short (very short) story about a fairly famous incident during World War I. The Lost Battalion, a group of about five hundred men from the US Army, got stuck behind German lines in the Argonne Forest for nearly a week. Only about two hundred men got out, and they only by means of a miracle: a pigeon who was too goddamn stubborn to die.

No, really.

It's an incredible story, and this book... doesn't really do justice to it? It's aimed pretty young, so there's only so much of the horror of the Lost Battalion's situation that can get through. The artwork is pretty cleaned up. I mean, it's okay, but it is aimed really young, and not really for me. Sorry, Terry Deary. Not everything people write can be a hit.

A resounding meh.