Cuban Americans Book

More of a revisiting than a first read, I picked up Harnett's book in all it's beautiful hardback splendour. With its greem-wooded cover and embossed silver donkey to its dream-like endpapers lovingly crafted by Laura Carlin, it's a palm-sized gentle story which resonates through Harnett's tender prose.
Set at some point during the Great War, two young French sisters, Marcelle (10) and Coco (8), venture into the wood near their farm to discover a blind, hungry soldier who has escaped the Front's atrocities. With only care and curiosity at the forefront of their mind, they choose to keep him a secret from the townspeople and feed him. In return he tells them stories inspired by the little silver donkey that he always carried in his hand.
The allegorical stories themselves interject the children's visits and are there for him to share with the girls (and other visitors): what it is about life that is worth living for. It is a story that is sure to embed itself within the mind of the young reader ready to be revisited and reimagined as they grow into the world. Harnett stays cautiously away from overt didacticism and instead leaves interpretation of the tales to the reader. The story has a beautiful, hopeful close.