The Lost Warrior

Hunter, Erin. The Lost Warrior. HarperCollins Children's Books, 2007. ISBN 978-0-06-124020-1

Plot

This graphic novel edition of Graystripe's story is a good introduction to the Warriors series. Graystripe is a wild cat, member of Thunderclan. He returns to his home forest to find that it has been cut down by twolegs. The twolegs are capturing all the wild cats. Graystripe and his friends free the captured cats from cages in a van. But as the van drives away, the doors slam shut and Graystripe is caught. He is taken into a twolegs family's home. In his life as a kittypet, he finds regular meals, safety, and warmth appealing. But he fears he is becoming soft, and so he tries to run away. He does not get far before he encounters a neighbor cat. He fights and loses. He meets another neighbor cat, Millie. She realizes Graystripe is lost, so she takes him to his home. He again resolves to run away and find Thunderclan. He leaves and wanders for ten days. Soon he faints from hunger and thirst. Millie finds him and revives him. She agrees to go with him to find his clan.

Critical Evaluation

The graphic novel format of this book makes the story appealing to new and returning readers of this series. The story is told with little dialog. There is exciting action in the battles Graystripe fights. Several dream sequences acquaint readers with Graystripe's history. These elements make the story fun to read and will encourage children to seek out other books in the series.

Annotations

Graystripe returns to his home forest to find it destroyed. He is captured by twolegs and made to live as a kittypet. After a short time he fears he is becoming soft and decides to leave his new home. He wants to find his clan and return to his warrior life.

Author

Erin Hunter is the author of the Warriors series and the Seekers series. Her books portray animals in ways that show bravery, friendship, and love.

Genre

Fiction – fantasy, animals.

Curriculum Ties

Language arts

Booktalk Ideas

There is little dialog in this book, so it would be quick to read and show the first few pages of the book to a group. Then I would display chapter books and other graphic novels from the Warriors series.

Reading Level/Interest Age

Grade 4 – 6 (age 9 - 12).

Challenge Issues and Defense

There are battle scenes. The violence is portrayed through stylized action between cats.

Why is it here?

My daughter loves this series.