The Warrior Sheep Go West

Gr 4—7—A series of rollicking adventures ensues as five sheep and their owners fly from England to the Las Vegas area for divergent, humorous reasons. The flock plans to confront their perceived legendary enemy, Red Tongue, in order to save all of sheepdom. Their owners, Gran and Tod, are tricked into coming to America by a mad scientist and his scheming wife, Stanley and Holly Boomberg. They think they are exhibiting their sheep at the Society for Rare, Humble, Unwanted, Beautiful and Rare Breed (RHUBARB) convention, but the Boombergs are planning to conduct survival experiments on a new planet using the animals. Upon landing in the desert, the Warrior Sheep escape the evil clutches of Holly while Gran and Tod are locked up in a ghost-town jail. Holly feverishly pursues the flock in her golf cart as Tod and Gran dig a tunnel to freedom. The animals get into one fix after another involving joyriding teenagers, a flash flood, a sword-wielding magician, and a menacing bear. A sheep that loves to rap plus another that worries about having a "bad fleece day" make for distinctive animal characterization. The tense relationship between Stanley and Holly creates deliciously dislikable dialogue, but her character borders on being a stereotype of a controlling female. The adventurous episodes keep things moving along, while the hilarity takes hold especially during the second half of the book.—Diane McCabe, Loyola Village Elementary School, Los Angeles