Gay neck, the story of a pigeon : &, Ghond the hunter

The heartwarming and sometimes almost heartbreaking story of the training and care of a carrier pigeon. Writing out of his own experience as a boy in India, Dhan Mukerji tells how Gay-Neck’s master, an eager, highly-sensitive lad, sent his prized pigeon to serve in World War I, and of how, because of his exceptional training and his brave heart, Gay-Neck served his new masters hero¬ ically. The striking black decorations by Boris Artzybasheff emphasize the spirit of daring and achievement which is the keynote of all Gay-Neck’s adventures. We find our own spirits soaring as we follow Gay-Neck on his many flights — now from the housetops of Dentam in India, now to the homeland of the eagles in the Himalayas, and even among the circling airplanes of nations at war. Here is more than just a simple story of a pigeon’s training and adventuring, for Gay-Neck is truly a carrier pigeon, a bearer of messages, and his messages are words of courage and love. Take flight with Gay-Neck, the passenger pigeon with a shimmery throat, his kind young master and Ghond, the wildlife expert, on their adventures in a village, across the Himalayas and to a battlefield in France. In this heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking tale, soar through Gay-Neck’s encounters with hawks and eagles, his quests with the swifts and a monk, and finally his heroic service as a bearer of messages filled with love and courage during the First World War. A prequel to Gay-Neck’s internationally renowned story, Ghond the Hunter focuses on the first fifteen years in the life of Gay-Neck’s trainer, Ghond. The young boy’s initiation into forest life, his understanding of dangerous animals, his run-ins with eagles, snakes and tigers, and his experiences with his pet panther make for this riveting tale of a master hunter. This special edition brings together two classic stories – Gay-Neck, the Story of a Pigeon and Ghond the Hunter – by Dhan Gopal Mukerji, the only Indian to have won the John Newbery Medal. Describing animal life with nail-biting realism, Dhan Gopal Mukerji’s stories take you to a place where the feral meets the tame, man meets nature, and all that matters is the law of the jungle! Gay-Neck: the Story of a Pigeon won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1928. It deals with the life of Gay-Neck, a prized Indian pigeon. Mukerji wrote that "the message implicit in the book is that man and winged animals are brothers." He stated that much of the book is based on his boyhood experiences with a flock of forty pigeons and their leader, as the boy in the book is Mukerji himself. The book offers an insight into the life of a boy of high caste and also into the training of pigeons. Several chapters are told from Gay-Neck's perspective, with the pigeon speaking in first person.