The Warrior Sheep Go West

June 15, 2011

Dotty Ida White's equally daffy rare-breed sheep return for more fleecy (mis)adventures.

Sheltering from the rain in the barn, the five rare-breed sheep who saved the world (at least in their own minds) from Lambad the Bad (Quest of the Warrior Sheep, 2011) hear a threatening message from Ida's laptop (currently serenading the chickens with Internet music). Red Tongue threatens rams, ewes and lambs everywhere. Of course, matronly, busybody ewe Sal remembers mention of such a beast in the traditional "Songs of the Fleece." Red Tongue will come out of the west, where the hottest winds blow, to devour sheep everywhere; only a band of brave warriors can save the eweniverse. Meanwhile, Ida and her great-grandson Tod are invited to take their sheep to a conference of RHUBARB: Rare, Humble, Unwanted, Beautiful, and Rare Breeds in...the American Southwest (imagine that!) The conference is not what it appears. Red Tongue is (of course) not what the sheep think it is...everyone gets a bit more adventure than they bargained for! The Russells, a British husband-and-wife writing team, trot out their brave-but-foolish fleecy heroes for another preposterous romp full of wild coincidences, evil scientists, mad magicians and enough misunderstandings for three novels.

Fans of Brit humor will enjoy, but gird your suspension of disbelief; it's going to get a workout. (Animal fantasy. 9-12)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

August 1, 2011

Gr 4-7-A series of rollicking adventures ensues as five sheep and their owners fly from England to the Las Vegas area for divergent, humorous reasons. The flock plans to confront their perceived legendary enemy, Red Tongue, in order to save all of sheepdom. Their owners, Gran and Tod, are tricked into coming to America by a mad scientist and his scheming wife, Stanley and Holly Boomberg. They think they are exhibiting their sheep at the Society for Rare, Humble, Unwanted, Beautiful and Rare Breed (RHUBARB) convention, but the Boombergs are planning to conduct survival experiments on a new planet using the animals. Upon landing in the desert, the Warrior Sheep escape the evil clutches of Holly while Gran and Tod are locked up in a ghost-town jail. Holly feverishly pursues the flock in her golf cart as Tod and Gran dig a tunnel to freedom. The animals get into one fix after another involving joyriding teenagers, a flash flood, a sword-wielding magician, and a menacing bear. A sheep that loves to rap plus another that worries about having a "bad fleece day" make for distinctive animal characterization. The tense relationship between Stanley and Holly creates deliciously dislikable dialogue, but her character borders on being a stereotype of a controlling female. The adventurous episodes keep things moving along, while the hilarity takes hold especially during the second half of the book.-Diane McCabe, Loyola Village Elementary School, Los Angeles

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