Toro! Toro!

Best-selling author Michael Morpurgo turns his storytelling skills to the drama and tragedy of the Spanish Civil War, read by Christopher Barlow. TORO! TORO! is the story of a young boy growing up in Andalucia, Spain, on a farm rearing bulls for the bull ring. Antonito hand-rears a little black calf, but the boy doesn't yet understand the fate of the black bulls – the corrida and death. Later, learning of the horrors of the bull fight, he frees Paco, and rides with him into the hills. There they witness the beginning of the Spanish Civil War and Antonito is left alone – his family and the farm are destroyed by bombs, and Paco has run off, wild with fright. He decides to stay in the hills, where he joins the Resistance fighters. Around the campfire, Antonito hears tales of the wonderful black bull, who becomes a symbol of freedom for them all. Could this really be Paco? One night, Antonito falls asleep and dreams of Paco. In the morning, he wakes to see hoof prints on the ground beside him… A delightful story, full of nostalgia and drama in the author's own inimitable style. Illustrated by Michael Foreman. Immerse yourself in this historical fiction, a bestseller by the Sunday Times bestselling author, Michael Morpurgo. The story, though short, is a poignant depiction of the military conflicts during the Spanish Civil War, seen through the innocent eyes of a child. For fans of Nizrana Farook (The Boy Who Met a Whale), J M Forster (Bad Hair Days), Kate Saunders (Five Children on the Western Front), Michelle Paver (Wolf Brother), and Bob Cattell (Glory Gardens 1).