War Horse Book Club

A small group of fourth and fifth graders decided, after reading four short novels by Mildred Taylor that they wanted to continue with the book club and read another book together. They all voted to read the book at home. And so I selected a favorite book, War Horse by a favorite author, Michael Morpurgo. “In 1914, Joey, a beautiful bay-red foal with a distinctive cross on his nose, is sold to the army and thrust into the midst of the war on the Western Front. With his officer, he charges toward the enemy, witnessing the horror of the battles in France. But even in the desolation of the trenches, Joey's courage touches the soldiers around him and he is able to find warmth and hope. But his heart aches for Albert, the farmer's son he left behind.”

While reading this beautifully written and emotional novel, students practiced using the reading strategies first introduced while reading Mildred Taylor’s books. The additional practice helped them further develop their questioning, making connections, and visualizing skills. They also used fix up methods, built vocabulary using context clues, and used visual text clues to figure out meaning.

After finishing reading the book we all watched the Stephen Speilberg film version. While this was an entertaining film, many questions were raised as to why the screenwriters changed Morporgo's text. Was it for the better or worse?