 | The Scarecrow and His Servant Philip Pullman Date: 23 August, 2005 — $10.85 — Book product page Rating:
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This wild Don Quixote-like tale begins with an old farmer building a scarecrow and planting it in a field. The scarecrow is stolen repeatedly by others too lazy to make their own and comes to life one evening when struck by lightning. The scarecrow sets out with his new servant Jack - a young boy looking for adventure and more importantly, food - for Spring Valley, a place to which his "inner conviction" tells him he belongs. And the scarecrow is not wrong about this (though he is wrong about virtually everything else). The farmer who created him, now deceased, has willed all of his property to the scarecrow to keep it out of the hands of his dastardly, environmentally irresponsible relatives, the Buffalonis. The scarecrow and Jack wind their way through battles, shipwrecks and broken hearts to Spring Valley where they will finally face the Buffalonis. It's certainly no "His Dark Materials", but it is a charming and fun book.
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