“Lucky the Dog and other tales from the farm” is a charming and whimsical book that can be sipped leisurely while you are having breakfast. Even if you have a talkactive daughter right by your side. (Yes, speaking from personal experience.) 

The book comprises three short stories, each of which deviates from typical plots in intriguing ways. “Elvis and the Turtle” recounts the experience of students who saved a turtle from being entangled in a net. “Always Look on the Bright Side” kept me turning the pages with its narration of the main character who had cerebral palsy but managed to experience his classmates’ field trip secondhand due to online communication. “The Dog that didn’t bark” was my favorite tale because it unravelled how a dog was prompted to bark because its trauma was soothed by a girl from Syria who understand its facial expression of loss and fear. Needless to say, both girl and dog came out of their shells at the end of the story.

Also, reading two books of Michael Morpurgo in two days made me distinctly aware of the vocabulary he liked to use: squelched, crouched, trotting, among others. It prompted me to think about how writers’ works are like the unique fingerprints of their creators. That they stamp their signature style over their fictional works with their preferred choices of vocabulary.