Farm Boy

War Horse #2

by Michael Morpurgo (Narrator), Derek Jacobi (Narrator)

During a holiday on the farm in Devon a young lad discovers how different it was farming when his grandfather was a farm boy. His Grandpa tells the story of his own father's best horse, Joey, who was taken to pull guns in World War I, and how his Grandpa raced a tractor ploughing with horses.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Childrens, Animals, Historical, Horses, Young Adult

Audiobook

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Sir Michael Andrew Morpurgo, OBE, FRSL is the author of many books for children, five of which have been made into films. He also writes his own screenplays and libretti for opera. Born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1943, he was evacuated to Cumberland during the last years of the Second World War, then returned to London, moving later to Essex. After a brief and unsuccessful spell in the army, he took up teaching and started to write. He left teaching after ten years in order to set up 'Farms for City Children' with his wife. They have three farms in Devon, Wales and Gloucestershire, open to inner city school children who come to stay and work with the animals. In 1999 this work was publicly recognised when he and his wife were invested a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to youth. In 2003, he was advanced to an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 2004. He was knighted in the 2018 for his services to literature and charity. He is also a father and grandfather, so children have always played a large part in his life. Every year he and his family spend time in the Scilly Isles, the setting for three of his books.

Reviews

[Amit · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 ⭐

GENRE - FICTION

PAGES - 112

The first time I came to know about Michael Morpurgo was when I saw the Movie War Horse.
I have not yet read War Horse yet and Farm Boy is the sequel to War Horse.

The story revolves around a Grandfather and Grandson relationship. The grandfather lives far away in the countryside or village tending to his farm.

The grandson comes to stay with his grandpa for vacations and enjoys country life, his grandpa teaches him farming and tells him stories about his life and about the Village. One fine day grandpa makes a request to his grandson to teach him to read and write English so that Grandpa can read a few books and communicate in his spare time, it was also grandpa's wish to read and write which his wife was going to teach him suddenly unfortunately she dies and this desire of Grandpa remains unfulfilled.

The grandson then hesitantly starts teaching grandpa and what later unfolds is for you to read and discover.

I absolutely loved the book and recommended it to kids and young adults as it is a light read and also don't forget to watch the movie "The War Horse"

Thank You 💚🫡👋

[kwesi 章英狮 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Farm Boy is the second installment to Michael Morpurgo's War Horse Series. Although this book is short and recommended to much younger readers of the first book, War Horse, the book has this imprint of Morpurgo's writing style even you turn the pages upside down. The usage of thorough old country mouse English, the pre- and post- World War 1 setting, the long beautiful and struggling narrative, the patience and of course, the much awaited Morpurgo's love to horses.

In Farm Boy, Morpurgo changed something big in this book. Instead of writing Joey's point of view, this time, Morpurgo wrote Albert's point of view by using his son's, now a grandfather of the protagonist, way of portraying his father in the old days. Farm Boy is another retelling of the past and another short legend to be told to the young, an after story for the hero of the past.

The book can be subdivided into three parts or stories; the summary, the Grandfather's story and the conclusion of the protagonist to his dilemma. The summary tells the story and adventure of Albert, named Corporal after the World War 1 in the entire book, when he was fourteen in his own point of view and to claim his promise to the horse when his drunkard father sold the horse to the army. The Grandfather's story of his father and the legend of the old wrecked tractor in the barn which is the main story of the book. And lastly, the protagonists struggle to conquer his parents' wants for him and his own will to decide his future. Three stories enough to fit a 33-paged electronic book with large illustrations to be enjoyed by everyone.

I'm not a maniac but I find it difficult to understand the Corporal's love to the horse. Joey, Albert's bay horse with four white socks and a cross in the forehead, had a special love to Albert. What I mean is more than best friends, more than a brother. Something a male horse, an animal, and a human being share a special bond like your neighbor's maiden having a special interest to a dog.

But it was Joey Father loved best. If ever he got sick, Father would bed down with him in his stable and never leave his side. He loved that horse like a brother, more maybe.

From the text above, the protagonist's grandfather described his father's love to the horse. Is this another zoophilia case or a homosexuality? Nobody could tell. Another evidence was the jealousy of the Corporal's wife towards Joey in the end of the first book.

He talked to me of many things after that... and of course about Masie, whose crusty bread was every bit as good as he had said. But try as I might, I never got to eat any her pasties and do you know, she never even offered me one. — from War Horse

More than that, we cannot consider the Corporal's love to be gay or zoophilia for that first text above was mentioned by his son. Truth, the son suspected his father but loved him so much. And the second text, it was Joey's suspicion to his best friend's wife. If only Corporal could tell the truth. There are also some hidden sexually messages or foreshadowing in the War Horse or maybe I'm just a freak who read Fifty Shades of Grey while reading this. But do you think that things like that happen in children's literature?

For Morpurgo's love of horses, I knew from the very start that Morpurgo love the companion of horses but he thinks of them as simply animals who don't have a soul. Is that against of any animal welfare crime? Any living things, anything that moves have souls except automaton. But philosophies and perspectives of men cannot be argued fully for they chose their own answers and defend for it until the end of their lives.

Kindest man that ever lived, my father. Big and gentle, just like Joey. But he had spirit all right.

The Grandfather's description of his dead father with the same characteristics as Joey but his father had the spirit or soul that differ him from the animal. But animals can talk, it's just that we cannot understand them for there are many ways to communicate or maybe the Grandfather thought of it as lower form of being than humans or maybe not. Where is the love grandpapa?

The Grandfather's story is quite hard to read compared to War Horse and the rest of the parts. Because the Grandfather never attended his school in the past for he is a farm boy, the letter missed most of the punctuation marks and spellings that the author emphasizes in the letter. Plus, the letter is the spotlight of the book so a reader requires patience to fully aware of what he is reading in that part and to enjoy immensely. Characters in the story are named compared to the main character, the Grandfather and Corporal. So be careful also of nouns used to describe the characters as names.

Illustrations are great; they are sketches of the old posters of the past. Such as a poster is trying to advertise to save horses in the war and the first released of tractors in the market and how farming changed after that. The author also includes humor for everyone and hopes you'll enjoy everything as a whole.

‘I was thinking about her on the dresser,’ he said. It took me a moment or two to work out who he meant. ‘Be twenty years today. She went and left me twenty years ago today. Everything to me, she was, and she goes and dies on me. And you know what? We was in the middle of something, something we hadn’t finished. And she took ill and died. She shouldn’t have. She shouldn’t have.’

‘What were you in the middle of?’

He looked at me and tried to smile.

Rating: Farm Boy by Michael Morpurgo, 3½ Sweets

Challenges:
Book #72 for 2011

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

So now to admit that I didn't realise that there WAS a sequel to Warhorse - so you can imagine how quickly I went out and got a copy!

Well first of all I will admit its a fast read - it says its 110 pages but honestly with most pages sharing the print with image its considerably less. Also although it does mention the horses its actually about something totally different

That said the story is just as poignant and touching for me and all the more real as my father when he was little used to go to school on a Clydesdale horse that came from a working farm, I guess it was his equivalent to the school bus.

Well there is not much more I can say about the story but to admit that its a short but very touching story. I do wonder sometimes where Mr Morpurgo gets his ideas from as yes they are works of fiction I also know how close to life they really do wander at times. However that said however much truth there is in this story someone needs to tell it so as it is never lost.

SO for those Warhorse fans out there I would strongly advise you read this book however I would warn you be prepared as the story turns in ways you would not expect

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the follow-up to War Horse, my expectations were very high. However, they were shattered with this book, full of beautiful illustrations, clear text, and a memorable story. This is one of those books, that you can read over and over again, and still get your heart warmed. One of the best books ever written!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella is a short sequel, of sorts, to War Horse. It’s not what you’d call essential but if you read the first book and wondered what happened to Joey and his boy after the war, this is for you. A lovely story.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

"One evening, after he’d read a piece about yet another savagery in Bosnia, I saw there were tears in his eyes. ‘Don’t it ever stop?’ he said. ‘I can mind Father telling me that there’d be no more wars, not after his one. It shames me. It shames all of us. What’s the good in reading, if that’s all there is to read about?’

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished War Horse earlier in the week and although I wouldn't say it was fantastic I did enjoy it and so when I saw there was a sequel I decided I should read that too. So I requested this from the library and it came in pretty quickly, when I got it I was surprised by how small it was, just 110 pages and half of those were covered in illustrations. Not much of a story then!
This literally took me 20 minutes to read it was so quick and I have to say I was very disappointed. This isn't really a sequel at all, it doesn't really follow on from the first book at all, but starts with Albert's (Joeys first young owner) great great grandson going to visit his grandfather. Whilst there his grandfather recounts tales of his father (Albert) and his Grandad and of course Joey (the War Horse)
It's a rather pointless read to be honest. The grandfather talks about life as a Farmer and how much he loves it, then recounts a story of when Joey and Zoey (the two horses) were used in a ploughing challenge against a neighbor who had one of the first tractors. Whilst it was a sweet little story and clearly had it's morals, there wasn't any real point to it. Considering how much we read about Joey learning to plough in book 1 and returning to be a Farm Horse at the end of the book I could have imagined that myself.
I was sorely let down by this book. It could easily be put in the back of War Horse as a 'Bonus Short Story'. I certainly wouldn't pay full book price just to get this. If you loved the world of War Horse so much then this is a little added extra, and could be worth 20 minutes of your time, but borrow it from the library!
I'm sorry Morpurgo, but this really let the story down!

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I own this book.

In my attempt to read through all the books I own, I've been reading slowly through my bundle of Michael Morpurgo books. I loved War Horse as a kid, to the point where my copy ended up falling apart, but I never knew Farm Boy was the sequel (even though it says it right there on the cover). In this book, we get the story from Albert's point of view, instead of Joey's, as he tells his grandson all about his relationship with the horse and his own father. Throughout this book, the bond between grandfather and grandson is so clear. I loved seeing the boy teaching Albert how to write his own story and improve his reading skills and just how heartfelt the book was. Did I enjoy it as much? Definitely not, but it was lovely for a quick and easy read.

[SurDiablo · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright, just a pleasant light-hearted story featuring an old man sharing his memories with his grandson. If you are expecting a direct sequel to War Horse that continues from where it left off, you will be disappointed. It just offers some insight into what happened after the war, while being a story of its own with a different tone and illustrations. I liked it overall but kinda pointless if you ask me.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Farm Boy by Michael Morpurgo deserves ten stars out of five but as there are only five stars available that will have to do. In my complete ignorance I only realised when I started the book that it is the sequel to War Horse, but I actually enjoyed it more than War Horse (mainly because Joey wasn’t the narrator).

There are fantastic illustrations from the start, which place you mentally back in time as Grandpa reminiscences about the past, including memories of the first world war and his favourite farm horse, Joey. There are also links to more recent events such as the war in Bosnia in the 1990s too. It is unbelievably well written and the intrigue of Grandpa’s secret will keep you hooked. We then find out what the secret is and the book simply becomes a modern day classic...

...Grandpa can’t read. This is such a useful tool. It highlights the importance of reading and writing (so Grandpa can record his memories for example) while at the same time subtly removing any stigma to not being able to read. It is so well achieved and many children will relate to and be inspired by Grandpa, who has already been built up as a loveable character, as he perseveres to learn. The fact that reading and writing is shown to be such an important form of expression and way to record history will also reinforce the purpose of reading and writing for many.

This is probably a book for confident readers at KS2 and there are obvious cross-curricular links to history lessons. All-in-all this is a superb book.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Farm Boy' is a cute short story based on the descendants of the characters from 'War Horse'. Unfortunately, it is missing two of the key items that made 'War Horse' so compelling: the horse's point of view and World War I.

This book is incredibly short (my edition is 106 pages of large type and many large illustrations), so it is also nowhere near as in depth as the first installment. It is told from the point of view of Albert's great-great grandson while he visits his own grandfather (Albert's son) at the farm. The grandfather tells stories of his own father and his horse, Joey, which is how this ties in with 'War Horse'.

The emotions that ran strong in the first book, just don't exist in this one. Also, it seems to be written at a lower grade level, which is odd for a sequel. My 11 year old loved 'War Horse' as much as I did and we cried together over Joey's hardships. She wouldn't even give this one a second glance. I would estimate it's at more of an 8 year old level.

Still, it was a nice little story that doesn't take long to read. If you are interested in what happened to Joey and Albert after the war, this gives you a little taste of that.

[Julie Leithy]

Anyone expecting the excitment and anguish of war Horse,this is not the book, it is a sequel but about the great grandson of the original war horse. Joey and his owner return from the war as heros and then settle down back into life on the farm,but soon horses will not be needed on the farms or in the towns with the invention of tractors and cars. One day Joey and his owner get involved in a bet to see who can plough better the tractor or a horse drawn plough, the war horse spirit returns Joey is harnessed up and off they go. Who will win! the tale is recounted many years later to the Great Grandson,,Joey and his owner have long since passed away and the world has changed , The Grandson loves the farm but wants to see the world, but Grandpa has a confession to make and wants his help first. This is a lovelly gentle book and it is nice to know the happy ending for Joey the original war horse,
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[Yusra ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

now that I think back to it, the lack of proper grammar (it was purposeful) was really annoying, and like, where was the plot again? But I’m still keeping this on my shelf because look at that beautiful horse 🐴💗 (dear apple, fix ur damn horse emoji asap)
it’s basically just a middle schooler, visiting his grandfather, and discovering he is somewhat illiterate. so, he begins to teach him (in the sweetest way!) and as a going away gift, his grandfather writes him a story about a plot horse race. & because he’s illiterate (nothing against that!) the story is written in a way that lacks punctuation and grammar.
still pre cute though! anything horses, I’m down 😋🌸

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously not as good as War Horse! But still a nice way to continue on the story between generations.

[Lisa Whittaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely little follow on to War Horse. This is Albert, from War Horse and his grandson’s story. I really enjoyed it.

[Akcherrybomb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved War Horse, loved this short sequel.

[Rosie Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Farm boy is the lesser known sequel to War Horse by Michael Morpurgo. It is a short book filled with delightful illustrations and is written primarily for the young adult historical fiction market.


I wanted to read this because it was mainly set in Devon and I have been collecting stories from this county; the farming theme also appealed to me. The book features a young boy who spends his summers in Devon on his grandpa’s farm. Grandpa tells his grandson about his love for his working horse Joey, and briefly about his own father who signed up for the war so that he could find Joey - the army bought Joey from the farm for use in World War One.

There’s also a lovely piece about teaching Grandpa to read and write, resulting in Grandpa writing a treasured story about an old Ferguson tractor. I particularly liked the tractor story as I have another set of children’s books all written about old Ferguson tractors.


An enchanting tale about family and the stories they share.

[teleri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I did with War Horse, but it’s a nice short story and has a really cute feeling about it. I was able to read it very quickly and couldn’t help but feel like it was more like an afterthought than anything else, but I did enjoy it and it would be perfect for a bed time story, I liked this book very much.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this book was definitely shorter, and I like the idea of the book. My first complaint though is, that it took be 50 pages in to know who was narrating the book. I’m still not quite sure, but I think it’s Albert’s son. Am I right? Anyways, my second complaint is that I think that Michael Morpurgo could have made ANOTHER great classic out of a longer book. I do like how they try to make the Grandpa’s (pretty sure Albert’s father) grammar and punctuation messed up in the pages, even if it’s hard to tell what he is talking about. So, first recommendation: explain the book before you get into it; second recommendation: next time, make a longer book out of it, because I loved the idea of the book—and there was so much to work with. It feels like the same mistake he made with Kensuke’s Kingdom: it wasn’t long enough.

I give this a 3.25/5 stars.

[Margaret Menkus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got lucky when I was given an entire series of Michael Morpurgo's books! I had already read 'Shadow', and was looking forward to more of his stories. In reality, I wanted to read 'War Horse' as that was made into a movie - however this gifted series did not include that book.

However, I enjoyed reading 'Farm Boy' as it was a lovely story of a boy on his grandfather's farm. His joy in this environment is so apparent, that it made me want to move to this life! The story is told through the grandfather's eyes, even though a young boy is experiencing the beauty of the farm. I recommend this book to someone who enjoys reading about farm life, along with insights about farm animals, etc.

There is not a lot of action in this easy-to-read, short book - but it is so pleasant to read the stories that it just flies by!

[17sikoraz213 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a boy who has a grandpa who lives on a farm. The grandpa reveals a secret that he has saved for many year, this is that he cannot read or write. His grandson dedicates a few months to teach his grandfather, however, he had to teach him fast because he was planning to go to Australia. Luckily he manages to go to Australia because he put in a lot of hours to teach his grandfather to read and write. This book was interesting, however, there could be more details about what the boy did in Australia.

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is sequel to the book "War Horse". Easy and quick read. A motivating book regarding what we believe in and do what we enjoy doing.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

i enjoyed this, was very cute hearing about joey again.

[Emma Minazza · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a nice novella to follow War Horse. Finding out what happened to Joey after the war was nice. Heartwarming and loved the pictures that went along with the story. Would recommend both books

[Irina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm I'm sorry, what was the point of this book?

[Alisha Brook · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

[Helen O'Toole · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written sequel to War Horse. You must read War Horse first to fully comprehend the peaceful simplicity of farm life after the horrors of war.
I loved the secret his grand dad had kept all those years and there is a nobility to the relationship between the grandfather and his grandson. This book would also tie into a study of Aesop's Fables & the Hare and The Tortoise. I love Michael Morpurgo's easy style of writing. Your 8 to 14 year old children will gain so much from reading any of his novels just as I did.

[Isabelle Kerr · Rating 3 out of 5]

the start didn't make much sense
I definetly prefere War Horse but this one is still good

[Nigel Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet

[Keeley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this book as I did not really understand it