Mireille Messier

It's been a long time since I read any historical non-fiction (I blame post grad school burnout), but I couldn't resist picking up this picture book which explores the true story of Sgt. Billy, the goat who went to war. I first crossed paths with Sgt. Billy when I was researching the stories of Saskatchewan soldiers during World War I for a video series, and the team and I couldn't help but be charmed by this unique story. Clearly we were not the only ones charmed by Sgt. Billy, as he is a show more permanent feature at the Broadview Museum - and now the star of his own picture book. Messier does an excellent job of weaving his story into a cohesive narrative, and introducing children to this little piece of history. The illustrations as well were well done, as they kept with simple lines and muted tones to give the story a sense of realism. A more cartoonish or bright style absolutely wouldn't have worked for this story, which is about war after all, but the artist did use a subtle hand to make Sgt. Billy and his comrades a little bit cuter for young audiences. show less

This book is such a wonderful one, setting our family off on an evening of classical music and bird calls. Both of my children (5 and 9 years old) were enthralled by the story; they were so interested they began asking questions about starlings and Mozart and we had a great time researching. After we read through this picture book based on the true story of the starling who influenced Mozart, my sons spent the rest of the night listening to symphonies. While they poured over the show more illustrations and giggled at the humorous ones, we listened to and compared starling calls and the symphonies of Mozart discussed in the book. This book jumps off the shelf and into the hands of my children to be read over and over again. It also inspires rabbit trails of research and discussion. These factors make this book an automatic winner in our house! I received a copy of this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. show less

The story of "Sergeant Billy", the goat from Saskatchewan who went to war (WWI) as a mascot of the Fifth Canadian Battalion and came home a decorated hero, should be great stuff. I'd love to read a more engaging version of it. I really like the illustrations in this book, and the end papers (a wash of poppy flowers) are particularly lovely and appropriate. There are actual photographs of the real goat and his human comrades at the end, which is a very nice touch. But the text is just show more awkward, the simplicity of the telling at odds with the vocabulary as well as the subject matter. It is described as aimed at readers aged 4 to 8. I feel a 4-year-old would not "get" a lot of it, and an 8-year-old would want more detail. I think it's awfully hard to bring war experiences down to this age level but a goat in uniform ought to do a better job of it. If the specific 4-8 year olds I know take a look at it and disagree, I will revise my opinion. After all, they know goats pretty well. show less

I really wanted to like this book. In the end, I'm giving three stars--mostly for the Author's Note at the end and Matte Stephens' unusual, captivating illustrations. Given the title and dust jacket summary, I expected to learn more about the "very special relationship" between Mozart and his pet starling. Upon second reading, I did find bits of that story within the text, but they are subtle and will likely elude most listeners and readers--until the Author's Note at the end.Star: the bird show more who inspired Mozart may be worthwhile as a read-aloud to an audience of 3-to-5-year-olds or spark conversations about animal sounds (especially differences among birds). If you're looking for a book to cast more light on Mozart--or his pet muse, keep looking. show less