Limpit and I went to see 'The Water Horse' yesterday... and it's fab!

It's based on a book by Dick King-Smith (writer of what became 'Babe') and based in Scotland during WWII. A lonely boy whose father is away at sea finds a strange shaped rock on the shore. He takes it home, tries to clean it up and finds it's an egg. The egg hatches into a really cute little creature with a dragonish head, flippers for limbs and a forked fish tail - the water horse. The new handyman, invalided out of the war helps the boy and his sister hide the water horse until it becomes too big, whereupon they release it into the nearest large body of water. This is being patrolled for U-boats by an artillery batallion who are billeted in the house and grounds.

The Water Horse is beautifully made and an enchanting story. The 'monster' is totally believable (not like those lightweight, flat-looking things on the ITV programme 'Primeval'), the relationships formed are sweet and endearing and the end title music is by the Chieftans/Sinead O'Connor - worth listening to on it's own.

I'd recommend it to anyone who has children aged 8-12yrs, or just likes folk stories. It's another testament to just how good and sympathetic an author Mr King-Smith is, he's not afraid to deal with issues that others might fight shy of and treats them in a sympathetic and enlightening way. I think I may be off to the bookshop later to see if the original book is available.

LTS