Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Warrior Sheep Down Under
Fiction Series
For ages 9 to 11
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2012 ISBN: 978-1402267802
The five rare breed sheep, the Warrior Sheep, have had some pretty extraordinary adventures in the not too distant past, defeating villains who are a threat to sheepdom. At the moment, the five sheep are having a very peaceful time. Their owner, Ida White, has gone to Australia to visit her brother, and she has taken Todd, her grandson, with her. Since the sheep cannot go all the way to Australia, they are staying with Rose, Ida’s sister. Rose lives in Murkton-on-Sea, and the sheep are quite content, except for the sound. They keep hearing the sound of someone calling for help, someone who is in despair. It is very unsettling.
Wills, the Balwen Welsh lamb, tries to convince himself that the sound is caused by the wind blowing in the rigging of the boats and yachts in the harbor, but then Sal, the Southdown ewe, starts to recite a section from the Songs of the Fleece. The “prophetic verses” tell of a Tuftella, a “sheeply maiden” who was kidnapped and taken “Down Under” where she was imprisoned in a tower. Sal is convinced that the sound they are hearing is Tuftella begging them to save her from her captors.
Though they really have no idea how they are supposed to rescue Tuftella, the five sheep leave their pasture, and stow away on a yacht that is going Down Under. They convince themselves that the person who owns the yacht, Alice Barton, is their “fairy godtingy” and that she will help them succeed in their quest. In actual fact, Alice is a very unpleasant person indeed, one who is quite willing to throw the sheep overboard when she finds out that they are on her yacht. Thankfully, her crew members are more compassionate, and the sheep make it all the way to New Zealand in one piece.
One would think that traveling so far hidden in the hold of a yacht would be more than enough of an adventure for five sheep, but this is just the beginning. Little do they know, but bungee jumping, white water rafting, crocodile wrangling and many other adventures lie in their future.
In this third Warrior Sheep title, authors Christine and Christopher Russell take readers on yet another extraordinary adventure, and the five rare breed sheep prove once again that they are brave, resourceful, and incredibly lucky. Readers will find it hard not to laugh at the situations that the sheep encounter, and will appreciate the strange ways that the sheep interpret the words of their Songs of Fleece to fit what is happening to them.
