Loyal Creatures by Morris Gleitzman
Viking, 2014. ISBN 9780670077427 pbk. ISBN 9781743480717
ebk.
(Age: Yr 4+) Like tens of thousands of other young lads in Australia
in 1914, the first shots of what became known as The Great War
(fired 100 years ago today), sparked a sense of adventure in fifteen
year-old Frank Ballantyne. Having just lost his mother and currently
helping his father find water and fix wells on others' properties,
he is keen to find a more interesting life. 'Who wouldn't want to
choof off to distant exotic places, give a pack of mongrel bullies
what for and have the sort of experiences you just didn't get in the
Cudgegong district?' But his father is adamant - they will not be
joining the rush. Not just because Frank is too young, but because
his dad had promised his mum that it wouldn't happen. And so, with
their loyal horses Jimmy and Daisy, they continue to do vital work
but it's not war work. Until, one evening they unwrap a beautifully
decorated box which contains a white feather, the symbol of
cowardice . . .
Amidst the plethora of books being released as the centennial
commemoration of World War I gets under way, Morris Gleitzman has
written a most sensitive story about a boy and his horse and the
bond between them as they join the newly-formed Australian Light
Horse Brigade and travel to Egypt. With a light hand and occasional
splashes of the laconic Australian humour for which our soldiers are
renowned, Gleitzman takes the reader through the war through the
eyes of Frank. There is the death of his father, his friendships,
his first confrontation with conflict, his self-doubt, his
experiences of harsh military discipline, his unrequited love for
Joan, daughter of she who sent the white feather, and above all, his
bond with Daisy. Frank has an adventure in the desert campaigns of
Egypt and Palestine but it is not the one that he imagined back in
Cudgegong.
But the end of the war does not bring the end of the story. There is
an inscription on a memorial in Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens that
reads, 'They suffered wounds, thirst, hunger and weariness almost
beyond endurance and never failed. They did not come home.' This is
quoted at the beginning of the book and raises the flag that this
story might not have a happy-ever-after ending and it's for this
reason that we, as teachers and parents, might need to be prepared
for emotions and questions from young readers, maybe even offering
some guidance as to who should borrow it. Knowing that this is a
real story and thousands of horses suffered an unimaginable fate,
even if Frank and Daisy themselves are fictitious, may prove
difficult to handle for some, particularly those like Miss 10 who is
in the horse-crazy stage.
Loyal Creatures began in 2012 when Gleitzman's friend Michael
Morpurgo, author of War Horse asked Gleitzman to create a
performance piece as part of the program accompanying the opening of
the stage version of War Horse and as he learned more about
the Light Horse, he knew it had to become more than a 20-minute
piece. This is a wonderful tribute to a part of our war history that
is not as well known amongst our younger readers as the ANZAC legend
and it has a significant place amongst the resources that we use to
help them understand about this period in Australia's past and how
it continues to shape our present.
Lest we forget.
Barbara Braxton