A Lamb Called Lucky

Jasmine Green #5

by Helen Peters, Ellie Snowdon (Illustrator)

It's lambing time on the farm and Jasmine has her hands full. She has two orphaned baby birds to care for, as well as a tiny motherless lamb who needs her attention. She's determined to look after little Lucky and keep him safe. But there are bigger dangers facing the flock, ones that come in the dead of night...

Genres: Fiction, Animals, Childrens

144 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 2018

About the author

Helen Peters is the author of The Secret Hen House Theatre. She grew up on an old-fashioned farm in Sussex, surrounded by family, animals and mud. She spent most of her childhood reading stories and putting on plays in a tumbledown shed that she and her friends turned into a theatre. After university, she realised that she needed to find a job where someone would pay her to read stories and put on plays (though maybe not in a tumbledown shed) and so she became an English and Drama teacher. Several years later, finding herself as a stay-at-home mother of two, she decided to have a go at writing the sort of book she’d so enjoyed as a child. Helen lives with her husband and children in London, and she can still hardly believe that she now gets to call herself a writer.

Reviews

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lamb called Lucky is the 5th book in the Jasmine Green Rescue Series by Helen Peters.
In this installment, Jasmine and her best friend Tom discover two baby birds who have been thrown from their nest. Jasmine, with help from Tom, makes a bed for the birds and begins to nurse them back to health. This is not an easy task as they need feeding every half an hour during the daytime.
After discovering the baby birds (and hiding them so her parents don't know she's rescued more animals) Jasmine finds a dead sheep and it's lamb. The lamb is still alive but barely. Jasmine has her work cut out to save the lamb as both her parents are not at home and she has to act fast.
Not long after rescuing Lucky (the lamb), the sheep all get stolen and Jasmine and her dad face another race against time to save them.
I thoroughly enjoy this book series and love sharing them with my daughter at bedtime. Each story gets better and better and I can't wait to read them all. The books don't have to be read in order and the illustrations are so beautifully done!
Jasmine's younger brother Manu is such a funny character and I was laughing so hard at one point reading about his antics in this book I actually had tears rolling down my face!

[Tonja Drecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't read the other books in the series before picking up this one, but that wasn't a problem. this can be read as a stand alone, although there are references to occurrences in the other books.

It's lambing time, and Jasmine loves to help her parents keep an eye as the newborns arrive. When her brother and her discover two baby birds in the hay in the stall, they decide to take them in and raise them...although that isn't an easy thing to do. But when a new lamb's mother die, she has another baby to care for. Add the fact that someone has been stealing entire sheep herds, and she's got a lot on her plate to worry about.

This is one of those books, which is simply a good, well-done, wholesome read. And still, it grabs and even hits exciting tension toward the end. Jasmine is a kind girl with a huge love for animals. Her family has the usual tug and push, which comes with every day life, and both her mother and father are very busy. That leaves Jasmine with several responsibilities, and this also makes her interesting. She knows how to handle the newborn lambs and knows when to ask for help. And she's not perfect, either. She makes mistakes, argues with her siblings, and sometimes does things she know her parents wouldn't necessarily approve of. In other words, she's a normal girl.

The tale rotates around Jasmine's life on her family's farm, and I was afraid this meant a slow paced read. But it's not. The family in and outs, animals she needs to care for, unexpected twists, and high tension at the end made this a read which holds attention from beginning to end.

It's not hard to see why this series does so well, and I can really recommend it to those readers from grades 2 to 4.
I received a complimentary copy and enjoyed this even more than I thought I would.

[Eve L-A Witherington · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Jasmine finds a lamb passed away but a newborn baby lamb by her side, she takes great care and pride in helping to raise the baby lamb like she's seen her farm owner parents do for years.



As the lamb grows up, she enjoys helping him learn how to walk on his poorly back legs and also enjoys playing with him and helping integrate him into the sheep herd.



However, with lambs and sheep being stolen around the country, could their flock be in danger of being targeted next?



A lovely read about animals but saddening obviously talking about the loss of a beautiful animal despite it being the natural way of life sadly. Younger children may find it quite a teary read while older reader around eight plus should be able to enjoy the story more.

[Nurul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the storyline although there were some parts where I could really strangle Jasmine for well, being Jasmine. I'm really glad of the ending where she managed to keep Lucky after that horrible incident of all the sheep being stolen.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

At Oak Tree Farm a tiny lamb loses its mother and Jasmine sees a call to action. Not only does the orphan lamb need bottle feeding, it also needs help learning to walk and Jasmine is already caring for several rescues including two baby birds that require quite a bit of care.

[Nobi Nobes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a very good book.

[King FoXie · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best (maybe the best) of the series! If Jas hadn’t been so demanding (on keeping Lucky), I would have given it a 5

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Animal lovers will adore getting to know Lucky and the other animals on Jasmine’s farm, but beware that this series is realistic and not for the tenderhearted: the mother sheep dies at the beginning of the book. Still, if animal lovers can get past the sad scenes, they will appreciate the myriad of animal care information that is taught by knowledgeable characters, including how to care for newborn lambs and baby birds. Jasmine learns that her goal to run an animal rescue means that she will have to learn how to let the animals go. The pen and ink illustrations throughout capture the setting, human characters, and adorable animals in a way that enhances the text, along with aiding readers’ understanding. While very realistic throughout, the story involves some drama at the end when sheep rustlers steal the family’s flock; Jasmine witnesses the crime and then tracks down the rustlers with her dad and proves the flock is theirs by calling Lucky to her. In all, the story is enjoyable, educational, and has wide appeal for children in grades 3-5.

[Phyllis M. Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s a lesson on n there…somewhere.

[Jenna Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are fab books