Tortot, The Cold Fish Who Lost His World and Found His Heart

Tortot was a field cook traveling with the army, whichever army was on the winning side. Crossing over enemy lines was of no consequence. He packed his pots and pans, loaded them on his faithful, short-sighted, deaf donkey and entered the enemy camp proceeding to prepare magnificent meals by adding a drop of his mother's Eternal Soup. (Based on an extract his mother had given him) One day, a group of soldiers marching by were flanked by a twelve year old boy named George. George was looking for his brothers. When cold-hearted Tortot knowingly told George to look where bodies of soldiers were placed, George told Tartot that he would be his friend for life!

Intuition told Tartot to cross enemy lines again. When the enemy army seized him, Tortot had an ace up his sleeve. He quoted a fake "Etiquette of Warfare"which allowed a last request before an enemy was put to death. Tartot indicated that he would be honored to cook a final dinner, a scrumptious meal for the soldiers thus postponing his demise. Having impressed the officers, Tartot was allowed to meet the Imperial Emperors when they visit the camp. The "twins" loved pickled gherkins. Tortot is instructed to prepare the "royal" gherkin meal, however, sitting inside the gherkin barrel is twelve year old George who has lost both of his legs. George has been hiding in the gherkin barrel for four days and has eaten all of the gherkins. Could Tortot be accused of hiding a legless enemy combatant in a gherkin barrel? For now, Tortot concentrates on dinner preparations for the Emperors.

The Emperors were no different from their predecessors. Their war created havoc and destruction. As the soldier population decreased, the Imperial Emperors worried about who would fight if there was no enemy left to fulfill their agenda to conquer!

Half-George in the gherkin barrel was a stubborn devil. He always bothered Tortot, especially at night when he requested a story or asked to sleep at the bottom of Tortot's bed. The ice cold field cook with the heart of a fish might be starting to thaw.

"Tortot, the Cold Fish Who Lost His World and Found His Heart" by Benny Lindelauf describes the high cost of war mongering. Often young boys were recruited. Tortot used Eternal Soup and culinary magic to keep Half-George safe in his gherkin barrel. The pen-and-ink illustrations by Ludwig Volbeda are a beautiful addition to this captivating fable for teens and young adults.

Thank you Pushkin Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Tortot".

Insightful story on war. I think it's for age 11 up. Basically, it's a story about the absurdity of war and how folks at the bottom survive as best they can under the circumstances of maniacal rulers.

This is a great story about how even a person with a heart hardened by war can find themselves in a situation that opens their heart and shows them once again that there is good in this world. This is a very heartwarming tale that would be a good read for almost any audience.