Toro! Toro!

"Toro! Toro!" is the story of a young boy growing up in Andalucia, Spain, on a farm rearing bulls for the bull ring. Antonito rears a little black calf and they become firm friends, but the boy doesn't yet understand the fate of the black bulls. Later, when he learns of the horrors of the bull fight, he frees Paco, the black bull, and rides with him into the hills. There they witness the bombing of their village during the Spanish Civil War, and Antonito cannot go back--his family and the farm are destroyed, and Paco has run off, wild with fright. He decides to stay in the hills, where he meets up with the Resistance fighters. During the War, Antonito hears stories round the campfire of the wonderful black bull, who becomes a symbol of freedom for them all.

Michael Morpurgo is the author of more than 60 children's books, including Waiting for Anya and Kensuke's Kingdom. Michael Foreman, whose books include the acclaimed War Boy, is a recipient of the Whitbread Award, the Writers' Guild Children's Book Award, and the Smarties Prize; he was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.