Little Egret and Toro

K-Gr 3—After a young bull saves a baby egret from a fox, the two animals become best friends. The bird picks ticks from Toro's neck and fans him with his wings in hot weather. Toro stirs up grass to help Little Egret locate insects for lunch. While Little Egret gathers news during his flights far from the pasture, Toro is happy to fight with other bulls. In fact, he soon gains fame as the "most ferocious bull in Spain." Despite Little Egret's warnings, Toro remains convinced that he will return unharmed from the bullfight in Sevilla. Only quick action by Little Egret in enlisting hundreds of birds to foil the short-sighted president into thinking that the crowd is waving white handkerchiefs to spare the bull saves him from death. Fulton's majestic black-and-white illustrations reveal his familiarity with the world of bullfighting. They also capture the emotions of bull and bird through posture and facial expression while never turning into caricature. The story's setting and art recall Munro Leaf's famous flower-loving bull in The Story of Ferdinand (Viking, 1936). Toro could be one of the snorting bulls trying to impress the judges while Ferdinand heads for his favorite cork tree. Vavra's tale of friendship, first published in England in 1966, can stand on its own, but pairing the stories of two bulls avoiding death in the ring would provide interesting comparisons and contrasts.—Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato