Far Walker - Softcover

Leonard, Larry

4.21

14 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440404789 ISBN 13: 9780440404781

Publisher: Yearling, 1991

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Cast out by his fellow lemmings because he is so different, David embarks on a journey to find out why he was born and how he can be accepted, meeting several creatures along the way who challenge or aid him

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From School Library Journal:

Gr 4-6 David the lemming, an individual from the moment he is born, is banished from the lemming colony because of his curiosity and unusual behavior. Becoming a friend of hawks and wolves, he survives quite well on his own. When his friend Wolf tells him the legend of the Far Walker, who, when banished from his pack, journeys to a high mountain and there receives a power to save his people from danger, David then sets off on a similar quest, to find out why he is so different. Writing fiction about lemmings is a tricky business. Readers knowing the one most famous fact about their behavior will guess both theme and plot; those unaware of it may completely miss the point. Leonard assumes that his readers know that these creatures sometimes go on mad migrations ending in death, and so does not explain that the suicidal rush of lemmings over the cliff at the end of the story is not an abnormal event. The language is uneven, ranging from highly colloquial dialogue and description of action to stilted, archaic-sounding remarks exchanged by the characters in moments of tension. Slight, sketchy drawings illustrate David's adventures. Alan Arkin's The Lemming Condition (Harper, 1976) is a more successful fable with a lemminghero. Ruth S. Vose, San Francisco Public Library

From Publishers Weekly:

David is no ordinary, follow-the-leader lemming. Instead, he is an independent thinker who challenges lemming tradition. One day, however, David goes too farhe speaks to Hawk. The elders of the lemmings are furious; they banish him from the tribe, and any lemming who dares to speak to David will also be banished. David soon realizes that he will never again be accepted by his family or friends and leaves home. David meets up with Wolf, wholike Hawkbefriends him. But Wolf cannot accompany David on the entire journey, and soon the free-thinking lemming must seek the truth on his own. If the notion of a lemming as a hero seems at first rather off-putting, as the story continues, and as David's adventures become more intriguing, readers will be swept along by the idea. By the end, a herculean lemming is a perfectly plausible and unique character. Illustrations not seen by PW. No ages given.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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