The Warrior Sheep Down Under

For the title alone, you should pick this book up. I mean, honestly. How often in life do you get to answer the question, “What are you reading?” with such a beautifully surreal title? Not often enough.

WARRIOR SHEEP DOWN UNDER, by Christine and Christopher Russell, maintains its commitment to surreal humor throughout. Five sheep sail down under, bungee jump, consort with kangaroos, interfere in cricket and finally, rescue the damsel they presumed was in distress. They also thwart the villainess, despite believing her to be their “fairy god-tingy” for most of the book, and save the farm to boot. It is, truly, one kooky thing after another, and just when you think things could not possibly get kookier – they do.

I admit, however, that for me, the joke wore thin pretty quickly. I love the idea of warrior sheep, and the five sheep have clearly embraced their destiny, even if they are consistently wooly in their approach. Of course, they are sheep. Wooly is where it’s at. So perhaps I am asking too much when I wish the pretty girl sheep was not so worried about her hair and nails, or that the dread-locked sheep was not the rapper.

Yet WARRIOR SHEEP DOWN UNDER remains a light, fluffy read, and if it didn’t quite knit together for me, neither did it unravel. Just the sort of book to make a young reader giggle.