The one that got away

When I look at this lovely stack of ARCs and signed copies I tell myself that it is churlish to gnash one's teeth at the thought of the book that I did NOT buy but, there is is.

Humans are never satisfied

Saturday morning, I was holding War Horse by Michael Morpurgo in my hand at the Scholastic booth and I was debating purchasing it.

I have friend who loves horses and this story of WWI might even tempt me even though I swore off animal stories as a child. I had read one too many books where the poor horse's tongue lolls, where the dog limps on raw and tender paws, where the car hits the rabbit, where the poor kid has to kill his dog to become a man ... I always identified with Gordan Korman's character Wallace Wallace in No More Dead Dogs.

No wonder I turned into a fantasy reader. Give me a sharp orc thwacking sword any day!

The cover of War Horse was beautiful though and I was reaching for my money when ... Mo Willems walked by.

He was on his way to the author signing area having just finished his very entertaining breakfast speech and I had been debating whether or not to stand in line to get a signature.

I had a boffo RRR signed t-shirt for the nephew and had made a point to acquire a pigeon t-shirt for the niece. I had been dithering but when he walked by I put down the book and followed him.

Happy, happy! The shirt is so cute!

Sunday morning, Treebeard drew my attention to this Houston Chronicle article by Gregory Katz about ... Michael Morpurgo. He is currently the writer-in-residence at the Savoy Hotel in London.

Being based in London has given Morpurgo time to meet with filmmakers and theater directors, including the ones who are producing one of his earlier novels, War Horse, on stage this fall at the National Theatre.

"It's the sort of thing you dream of," Morpurgo said. "It's very, very exciting."

The much-loved novel tells the story of World War I as seen through the eyes of a horse. Like many of Morpurgo's works, it is aimed primarily at children but also has a following among adults, including many of whom read it first in childhood and have revisited it decades later.

It is a sign.

If you love London, read the whole thing!