School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-When stretchers become scarce on the battlefield, Jack uses donkeys to transport injured soldiers-including a childhood friend-to safety. Young readers will be pulled in by the man's rapport with donkeys, but neither the writing nor the rustic illustrations shy away from the realities of war. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Often cheerless, this tribute to a WWI foot soldier and the donkey he used to evacuate the wounded doesn't shy away from representing the grimness of war. The husband-and-wife Greenwood (The Legend of Moondyne Joe) and Lessac (Caribbean Alphabet) tell of Englishman Jack Simpson, who, while fighting for Australia, stumbled upon a donkey. Greenwood matter-of-factly relates Simpson's brave deeds: "They made twelve to fifteen trips each day, carrying water to thirsty troops and returning with a soldier straddled over the donkey's back." Spreads showing the bandaged and bloodied are tempered by the naïve styling of the gouache illustrations. Only close examination of the dramatic scene of army boats going ashore under a barrage of Turkish gunfire will reveal the dead body floating in blood-tinged water. This account pays homage to the fallen of Gallipoli and one soldier's unique heroics in particular, though colorful folk art and a furry animal don't make the content any easier to digest. Ages 6-up. (May) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
Horn Book Review
Jack Simpson was a soldier who, along with his pet donkey, came to the aid of more than three hundred wounded British soldiers on the bloody battlefields of Gallipoli. Though the events can be difficult to follow, the story is poignantly told. Gouache illustrations offer a strong visual sense of the setting. Bib. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
As a lad in England, Jack Simpson worked at a beachfront donkey ride--an experience that came in handy years later when, as an ANZAC stretcher-bearer, he discovered a donkey cowering in a Turkish gully. With shells exploding all around, he manufactured a lead rope from field dressings and in following weeks gamely walked a regular route, carrying water up to the front lines and hundreds of casualties back down through "Shrapnel Alley." As did more than 300,000 of his fellows, he caught a bullet at last and was buried with particular reverence nearby, in a cemetery aptly called Hell Spit. Lessac downplays pain, blood and violence in her stylized, richly hued gouache paintings, depicting instead battlefields strewn with small bushes and flowers and uniformed human figures, wounded or just weary, carrying themselves with quiet dignity. Little studied in this country but a watershed campaign for the nations that fought it, the bitter battle of Gallipoli stands in for every war in this simply told tale. "Lest we forget..." (historical notes, bibliography) (Picture book/nonfiction. 10-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Greenwood's stirring picture book tells the true story of a young British soldier in World War I who saves his childhood friend on the battlefield. Jack and Billy grow up together in northeast England, where they work summers giving visitors donkey rides on the beach. At 17 Jack emigrates to Australia, enlists in the army, and finds himself fighting the Turks at Gallipoli, where he works as a stretcher bearer. When stretchers become scarce, he rescues and calms a frightened donkey, using the gentle beast to carry the wounded until Jack himself is killed. One of the people Jack rescues is half-conscious Billy, who doesn't recognize his childhood friend. In folk-art style, the paintings, in shades that reflect the heat of a sandy landscape, show the heroic soldier and the gentle animal amid the slaughter of war. A tender close-up of Jack whispering to the frightened donkey, Bless you, little fella, is especially nice. Illustrated notes, a map, and a comment from the Turkish general are appended.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2008 Booklist
