Book Analysis

Of

‘Sharp Sheep’
Written By
Vivian French

Analysis
of
Niña Marie So
BSED-English

Submitted
To
Prof. Mary Ann Margaret Morden
Introduction:
Title: Sharp Sheep
About the Author: Vivian French, Vivian June Isoult French is a British writer of
picture book texts, novels, plays, and non-fiction for children and young adults. She was
born in 1945 and raised in Bedfordshire, England.
She has written more than 250 books – including the picture book Oliver's Vegetables, The
Tiara Club series of chapter books illustrated by Sarah Gibb and The Most Wonderful Thing
in the World illustrated by Angela Barrett.
Vivian French was originally an actor touring schools. Her talent for storytelling emerged
when she met a children’s author who encouraged her to take up writing. Vivian’s first book
was published in 1990 and she runs inspiring writing workshops for both children and
adults.

Publisher: First published 2005 by Macmillan Children's Books; Unabridged edition

(September 2, 2005). This edition published 2006 by Macmillan Children’ s Books a
division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 20 New Wharf Road, LondonN1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford.

Number of Chapters: This version of Sharp Sheep by Vivian French has a total of
fifteen (15) chapters.

No. of Pages: it has a total of one hundred and twenty-four (124.p) pages.
Genre: Young-Adult Fiction/ Horror Fiction
Settings: There is no specific time throughout story. The first setting was in Bristol, a
city in England where Paul, Josh and their mom lived, and most the story revolved in Wales
where the most thrilling and adventures happened.
Characters:
● Paul Thompson. He is the narrator of the story, also one of the protagonists and a
dynamic character because he had a personality change at the end of the story.
● Josh Thompson. The big brother of Paul, one of the protagonists and is a round
character because his personality improved throughout the story.
● Sarah Thompson. The mother of Josh, Paul and Thomas, Partner of Rick and a step-
mother to Mandy she is a Flat character she doesn’t change much throughout the story.
● Rick. Father of Mandy and Thomas, partner of Sarah and step-dad of Josh and Paul, he
is a Flat character she doesn’t change much throughout the story.
● Mandy. First daughter of Rick, one of the protagonists and she is a dynamic character
because he had a personality change at the end of the story.
● Thomas Thompson. Rick and Sarah’s baby. Baby brother of Paul, Mandy and Josh.
● Tomas Jordan. The son of Farmer Owain Jordan and Mrs. Jordan, a Flat character
he doesn’t change much throughout the story.
● Grampy Jenkins. Grandparents of Josh and Paul, a Flat character she doesn’t
change much throughout the story
● Gran Carys. Grandparents of Josh and Paul, a Flat character she doesn’t change
much throughout the story
● Rhys. The bad guy in Josh’s Story.
● Caradoc Brand. the greedy business man who wanted to make their farm a big
holiday-caravan site. a Flat character he doesn’t change much throughout the story.
● George Griffith. The Farm owner
● Harrison. Special character in the story, the Welsh sheep of Tomas.
Plot Summary:
The story began with the narration of Paul Thompson about what kind of relationship he has with
his big brother Josh Thompson who always bullies him by telling a lot of made-up horror stories
or terrifying comic book stories. They only have their mother Sarah because their father left them
for some American woman, an additional family member then joins them as their mother fell in
love with Rick, who will become their father figure in the future. After only three months of
dating the couple decided to have Rick move in with them, but his daughter Mandy came in as
an additional package, which Josh didn’t really like because he will have to share a room with
Paul, and like what he does with his little brother, every night when they are studying or doing a
homework Josh will tell her scary stories about the house or her room which was Paul’s room
before her, sometimes Paul would hear her crying at night and he thinks that it was because of
the stories that Josh had told her.
After a few months, their mother announced that she was pregnant with Rick’s baby, Mandy and
the couple was delighted about the news however, Josh didn’t like it. Right after the summer
vacation Sarah gave birth to a baby boy, but he was a bit premature and they needed to stay at
the hospital, so they decided to send the children to their grandparents in Wales, which was
against Mandy’s will but still went with them because her father told her so. The next day early
in the morning, Rick and the children took a ride in their neighbor’s car Vicky to the station, but
they rode the train by themselves and while they were on the train, Josh started telling stories
again, he told them about the weird brown sheep that resides in the Rhys Field, and talked about
Rhys, a man who is said to be a bad immortal guy, the caretaker of the devil’s sheep, and he can
grant a wish of those who will survive a night with the sheep in the Rhys Field.
Upon arriving they were welcomed by Grampy Jenkins and Gran Carys at the Neath station,
while they are on their way to their grandparent’s house, they were stopped by three sheep on the
road, and they were startled by it, because it was the sheep in one of Josh’s stories, they were
brown, with white blaze on their faces and white tail, it’s very different from the sheep that they
know of and it creeped them out. Arriving at their grandparent’s house, they were welcomed by a
lot of foods prepared by Gran Carys since early in the morning, once settled in with the frequent
visits of Farmer Jordan they have learned that the house of their grandparents and the houses and
farms of other villagers were in danger of getting evicted because the owner of the land Mr.
George Griffith became sickly and are having thoughts about selling the land to some greedy and
selfish businessman named Caradoc Brand, who wants to build a big holiday-caravan site on the
farm.
In the farm there lived a five-year boy, named Tomas, his father is Farmer Owain Jordan and his
mother is Sheila Jordan. He was always visiting them whenever he heard that Josh and Paul were
going to visit there. One time while he was playing trains with Mandy and Paul when Josh
suddenly barged in and asked Mandy if she had told him about the Rhys Wish, Tomas being a
stubborn and strong-willed kid, is also very concerned with his parents crying about getting
evicted although he doesn’t really know the meaning of eviction, he knew that it was something
bad. He got curious about the story and although they didn’t want to tell him about it, they were
forced to tell him because of his stubbornness, little did they know that Tomas was serious about
getting his wish from Rhys and went to Rhys Field in the middle of the night, Mandy was the
first to go to find him accompanied by a creepy sheep. Woken up by loud baaing! Paul looked
into the window and saw Mandy going inside the misty, dark field. Paul immediately thought
that because of the stories of Josh which are only made up, she might be running away or she
went to get the Rhys Wish. Then something big happened to Paul, he suddenly got a burning
feeling and the encouragement to go up against Josh and tell him that they need to find Mandy
and bring her back, because he realized that it was the first time that he got angry when Josh just
closed his door on him, and that he was always the one to close doors not literally but
emotionally, he was always pretending to ignore his problems and do not face it, so he went out
barefooted, and went to the outhouse to get some boots, he also found the boneyard collection of
his Grampy and took one ancient jawbone and put it in his pocket, after that he went to the gate
and he found the one sheep that apparently was waiting for him, he was a little bit scared when it
suddenly moved around but it was as if trying to tell him to follow it, weirdly enough and he did
follow the sheep, because it was dark and misty he tripped and the jawbone fell somewhere, but
he went on and looked for Mandy, the sheep eventually led him to where she is and she was not
alone she was with Tomas who is curled up and wounded on the ground, not moving an inch
because he believed that he has to get Rhys Wish to save his parents from the eviction, not long
after Josh joins them and Mandy was confused about the reason why he came for her, because all
along she thought that he hated her. Tomas finally said that he wanted to go home, because he
believed that he already saw Rhys although it was Josh and that he got his wish, they made him
ride Harrison it was Tomas’s sheep and led them to his house, after sending Tomas home, the
moonlight was shining their path, when Mandy had a sudden emotional outburst and asked Josh
why did he come, and Josh told her it was because Paul told him that she believed in the stories
that he made up and thought that she was running away or that she believed in Rhys Wish and
wanted to get one, but Mandy told them the real reason for her tears every night, she told them
that it was because they have stolen her dad away from her and that nobody wanted her in the
family, she had no one to talk to or play with, the brothers couldn’t talk and they do not know
how to react about it, Mandy was just crying and crying when Harrison suddenly appeared and
shoved Josh that made Mandy crack up, after the confrontation, with light hearts they went to
their beds and slept.
The morning came and good news was overflowing, Caradoc Brand wasn’t able to get the
planning permission because they had found a human teeth and jawbone under the birch trees,
and the police officers are going to have more investigation about the bones, and will try to find
more bones in the field which will be displayed in the village museum together with Grampy
Jenkins bone collection. Another good news came and they can now go home to Bristol to meet
their new baby brother who Mandy named after little Tomas in Wales but different in spelling,
they named him Thomas Thompson. Although, they have encountered many conflicts about their
personal issues with each other, Josh being mean to Mandy and Paul, Paul being a coward and
have always ignored the problems and Mandy having an emotional turmoil from the sudden
changes with her set up and new family, the children had some freaky adventures in the Wales
and even unintentionally helped the villagers to keep their fields and houses by a careless
mistake. Through this trip they are able to resolve some internal issues, and with the new baby
on board and them finally accepting their situation, the once chaotic family had become a true
loving family at the end.
By Chapter Summary:
Chapter 1: Anyone who’s got a big brother will know that smiley photos do NOT tell the
truth, Josh and I have always been typical big brother, little brother, and it didn’t change as we
get older, he’d push me, I’d shove him. He had passion for those gory comics about skeletons,
vampires, and rattling bones from when he was eight, and I had passion for trains and he’d kick
my trains. Things changed when our mom fell in love with my form teacher, well he is really
nice, they met at a parent-teacher evening at the end of term, it was fine by me, not for Josh, Rick
moved in with his daughter Mandy, and my brother and I were forced to share a room, Josh
wanted to pretend the room was his alone, then I’d pretend he didn’t even exist but it wasn’t
easy, I was in the lower bunk bed surrounded by dark shadows, and josh voice was floating as he
tells me some gruesome stories from his comics, it freaked me out so I pulled my duvet right
over me and put my head under the pillow so I could shut him out completely.

Chapter 2: I haven’t said much about Mandy. She was a little skinny girl with big brown
eyes, and she mostly stayed around rick, or Mum, if they are both out, she vanished into her
room. She is always nervous around Josh, at first, I couldn’t understand why, maybe she blamed
herself for the fact that because they moved in Josh lose his room, well what he did was to tell
her horror stories when we were meant to do our assignments, I couldn’t help but to see what he
was doing to Mandy because I was there every evening, I didn’t tell Rick and mom because I am
scared of Josh. She got paler and paler and quieter. There is a thin partition wall between our
bedrooms and sometimes I could hear her crying, I didn’t really understand why Josh is being
mean to her, it was Mum’s fault that we have to move rooms because she fell in love. Mandy
never said anything about josh’s stories, she liked reading so the second she could get out of the
kitchen she went away by herself and read.

Chapter 3: then came the big news. Mom and Rick were having a baby. Mandy, Rick and
mom looked all glowing and pleased. Josh went quiet, he even stopped telling us stories, the last
day of term Mandy and I came struggling back from school and there was mom waiting for us at
the front door, she was clutching at her enormous stomach, she’s ready to give birth and the
ambulance and Rick was on their way already, the ambulance came and they zoomed away. Rick
came back nine that evening, he announced that we got a new baby brother, but was premature
so they need to stay few days more in the hospital. They decided to send us all in Wales, to Gran
and Grampy Jenkins until everything is okay.

Chapter 4: Rick woke us up early the next morning. We packed a few things and Vicky
next door gave us a ride to the Bristol Parkway station, and it turned out that we were going there
by train on our own. Mandy still tries to persuade her dad to let her stay, Rick patted her shoulder
instead, he told us that Grampy Jenkins will meet us in Neath station. He gave Josh ten-pound
notes for our pocket money and for buying food. By the time we got past Cardiff almost
everyone had gone off, and the three of us were alone. Josh got us sandwiches and three tins of
coke, Mandy was just reading. After eating Josh started again with his stories, he was trying to
make bad impressions of the people who lived there with an exaggerated scary description, then
he told us about the brown white-tailed special sheep and they also have curly horns and white
blaze on their faces, they were once white, but the devil won the battle against angels and made
them that way to be reminded of his victory. He also told us about Rhys a bad man who accepted
the offer the offer of the devil to look after his sheep and he will give him immortality, he also
said that Rhys will grant a wish to someone who is brave enough to stay out with the sheep all
night as long as Rhys doesn’t catch them. Mandy asked me whether it’s true but with Josh’s
stories I am always torn in half because I don’t know whether he is just making the stories up.
However, I said ‘yes’ because I was scared of Josh.

Chapter 5: By the time the train pulled into Neath station. Josh got more food for himself,
and he’d played weird games on the emergency phone Rick lent us. We got off the train, and on
the platform Grampy and Gran were waving at us, she hugged us and greeted us, she told Mandy
that she finally got a granddaughter to spoil. Gran and Grampy makes us feel safe, the Josh that I
haven’t heard much for months and months was all chatty all the way in the car, inside the car he
mentioned to Grampy that he’s been in the first-year football team and had scored more than
anyone else, he’d never mentioned that at home. It was a roller coaster ride, suddenly Grampy
slammed on the breaks because there are three creepy sheep steadily staring at us with strange
yellow eyes, Mandy was frozen because these are the sheep in Josh’s story, and granny said that
the pies she’s preparing all morning will be ruined if we get stopped again. Grampy honked at
them but they ignored, he went out of the car but they made baaaa! sound that echoed like a
thousand of ghostly sheep was there and it made us shiver the baaaing gradually faded, the three
sheep nodded at us and let us come thru, we drove and I looked behind me and there the three
sheep back in the road staring at me and they were shaking their heads as if saying “no.no. no.” I
kept silent but my stomach felt cold.

Chapter 6: Gran really had been cooking all morning, there was a huge meal waiting for us,
after we ate Gran told us that we will have our own bedrooms upstairs because granny had hurt
her ankle and it’s easier to access bathroom on the ground floor, and they also prepared
Grampy’s study room for Mandy with a lot of books inside, my Grampy is an ancient-history
fanatic, he has collection of chunks of pot and old arrowhead and bits of bone carefully arranged
in big case, there was even a mini collection of ancient human teeth three of them still in a
jawbone and he said that it were over a thousand years old, he had moved those to the outhouse
because it might scare Mandy. Grampy took Josh and I for a long walk down the valley, it was
so like the old days, we took a football with us Josh might be telling the truth about his goal
scoring even Grampy was impressed, Josh would laugh at me because I was useless as usual, but
Josh actually gave me tips how to play effectively and it worked. We went home and there was a
visitor who was farmer Owain Jordan. Gran looked serious and farmer Jordan sounded upset,
Grampy told us to make tea. Josh and I talked about what we know about the situation and he
said that it might be about the house he added that it wasn’t theirs. I remembered mom once said
that it was a tied cottage and I didn’t know what it meant, I heard that front door bang maybe
farmer Jordan left already.

Chapter 7: We took the tea tray into the sitting room, Mandy was instructed by Gran to pour
the tea for us, for a moment there was a moment of awkward silence, everyone was waiting for
somebody to break the ice. Grampy told Gran Carys that he will tell us what is going on, Gran
just nodded. Gramy leapt to his feet and told us that he can’t have a serious talk without cake, so
he zoomed out of the kitchen and got us a rich currant cake. He told us that although they have
rights to the cottage if the owner decided to sell the farm, they’d be asked to leave, and farmer
Jordan, Shiela and little Tomas will have to go too, and that’s what he came to talk about.
Caradoc Brand, was a greedy local business man, if gets planning permission from the council he
will have it his way. We made some silly suggestions thinking it would help but Grampy just
laughed, then we played Monopoly board and Mandy had flinched when Grampy mentioned
Rhys Field. I didn’t know how Josh knew about that thought, I didn’t think I’d ask.

Chapter 8: Tomas came knocking at the door early the next morning, we were still eating
breakfast, he’s really tiny for a five-year-old, but very independent, he always comes over if he
hears Josh and I were visiting, he used to follow Josh around, but he’s a little distant to him
today, Mandy and him totally get along very well, Tomas drag Mandy over to their house to let
her see the puppies and the one he wanted to keep but his father, Farmer Jordan won’t let him,
Grampy and Gran went to watch Josh play football because Gran said she wanted to see him
play, and I went with Mandy and Tomas to see the puppies. On the way we saw a brown sheep
with white blazed on its face and white tail. Tomas said it was Harrison, but there was something
really weird about him, I feel like he can see right through me. Mandy said that she thought Josh
was just making up stories about the sheep, and Tomas said that these sheep are called Balwen
Welsh Mountain sheep and they’ve had those sheep for generations. We passed by the Rhys
Field but Mandy didn’t look anxious. Today is warm and sunny. It is difficult to think that this is
the field Josh had told us about. We reached the iron gate, beyond it was clutter of ancient stone
buildings. We saw the puppies and Sheila Tomas Mom, she said sorry about what happened
yesterday with Farmer Jordan, after a while Grampy came to fetch us, farmer Jordan and
Grampy asked each other if there’s any news yet and Grampy said no news yet. While on the
way home, Harrison was behind us and it was super weird.

Chapter 9: We messed about for the rest of the afternoon. Josh kept on asking me to play
football with him but I prefer playing the old Hornby train set, Mandy said she’d help me. I’d
rather play with Mandy at least she wouldn’t slap me or argue or insist that she had first go at
everything. Tomas came back, and three of us set the track, we built a tottering hill of books. It
was fun and Mandy enjoyed it too, she was laughing and chatting non-stop, I have never seen her
like that before. We asked Tomas if he knew who Rhys was, he told us his dada told him that
Rhys was a shepherd and a very bad guy, then he asked Mandy if she knew what is eviction,
because his parents kept on crying, he told us that the farm is going to be his someday and that
he knew that eviction is a bad thing too, he cried with angry tears while saying those. Josh
barged in and told us tea in five minutes, Tomas showed Josh the farm that we made with Rhys
field and Harrison in it, Josh asked if Mandy’s been telling him about the Rhys’s wish, Tomas
looked blank, we said it was nothing, Josh was relieved, but Tomas was curious and kept asking
us. We didn’t want to but Mandy told him about it, and he was a very stubborn and determined
kid and said that he was not afraid of Rhys, and he’ll make him give him a wish. We hoped that
Tomas would forget that and we told him to keep it a secret.

Chapter 10: all throughout the tea Tomas kept smiling a happy conspiratorial smile at
Mandy. Gran and Grampy were unusually quiet too, it was an uncomfortable meal. Tomas was
fetched by his father and Gran asked to wash the dishes tonight, because Grampy’s needs to
attend the village meeting about the farm and Gran was also a bit tired. Josh closed the kitchen
door and started telling us some stories, this time it was some kind of curse, he said that no
stranger girls must stay in this house longer than three days or the curse would fall and
Thompson’s would be driven away, almost saying that Mandy is a stranger and the things that is
happening now is because of her, he even told her that Gran and Grampy were just being nice
not to tell her about it. Gran came and asked if we were already finished. Gran suggested we play
some game cards, but Mandy preferred to read and went to her room, in between our play Gran
would take a look at the windows to look out for Grampy although she denies that she’s worried.
We went to bed, Gran came in to say goodnight to me she had another look out of my window,
so I said to her that Grampy will be fine, but she said that it was the sheep that she’s looking at,
so I joined her, outside I could see the fence between us and Rhys Field, two sheep were standing
side by side and looked like they were waiting for something. Tomas said that he can talk to
sheep because he is a Welshman. I thought Grampy was as Welshman too but he was from
Cardiff. Gran gave me a kiss and turned off the lights, however, I needed to pee and went out, as
I was shutting the door Grampy came back with bad news, I feel bad for eavesdropping, good
thing Gran suggested to have a tea with Grampy and I was able to quietly get back to my room.

Chapter 11: I woke up with a peculiar dream about a sheep jumping through hoops, but
something real was making loud noises enough to wake me up, it was the sheep making Baaa!
Noises. Then I realized something about Josh’s story the sound of the sheep made me think of
Tomas and his family who had lived in Longstepping for hundreds of years and Josh saying
there’d been Thompsons- OUR family- here for hundreds of years too, but Gran said he was
from Cardiff and been here for ONLY thirty years! Josh’s story about the curse was a lie to scare
Mandy. I looked at the windows, and the sheep hadn’t moved except now that they are staring at
me. Then I saw Mandy at the gate shakingly holding a torch, was she running away because of
what Josh told her? Or she believed the story about a magic wish. I asked myself if I should go
after her, I swallowed hard and watched as Mandy pushed her way past the two sheep, one gave
a last loud accusation ‘Baaa!’ then turned to follow her as she walked away. The other sheep
stayed there, staring at me, I knew I had to do something, I had to get Josh, we have to find
Mandy and tell her about the lies, I went to Josh all nervous, I told him about Mandy and told
him that we had to tell her it’s all a lie, but he just shut his door, then something extraordinary
happened to me, I realized I was angry. A sudden realization came to me like a skyrocket, that I
am always the one shutting things out, things I didn’t like, pretending bad things weren’t there
hoping they’d go away by themselves. Not telling. Not saying. Not answering. And if I didn’t do
something about it now, I never ever would. I took a huge breath and opened Josh’s door, and
told him firmly that we had to get Mandy and tell her about the lies and if not, I threaten to wake
up Gran and Granny and that I don’t care about what he’ll do anymore, I turn around heart
thumping, and went down barefooted.

Chapter 12: I stepped cautiously out into the dark misty night, and wet cold grass made my
toes curl. I went to the outhouse, looked for old wellington boots, when my eyes finally adjusted
to the dark, I saw Grampy’s BoneYard! I popped a jawbone in my pocket, I went out and the
sheep was at the fence, watching my every step. I opened the gate, I froze when it began to move
away, I just knew it wanted me to follow it, weirdly I did. It was moving towards the valley
where the mist was thicker. Then I heard someone calling ‘Tomas’, it was a very faint cry but I
knew it was Mandy. I’m still following my guide. The white tip on its tail is like a marker and it
moved faster, so I had to hurry too. I shouted Mandy’s name into the mist and then I slipped, I
arrived at the bottom battered and scratched. Then many sheep started to push me forward with
their bony head, I yelled for Mandy again, when suddenly I was in open ground then I heard
Mandy call my name, almost relieve with my arrival, she’s with Tomas who wouldn’t move an
inch, wailing lying curled up on the ground, shivering and wounded, I reached for my hanky but
there’s no hanky and no jawbone, it must have fallen out when I slipped. He’s telling us about
getting Rhys' wish and wouldn’t move, unexpectedly Josh came and fainted seeing the blood on
Tomas’s neck. We found ourselves surrounded by the sheep nodding up and down at us. Finally
Tomas said he wanted to go home, we put him on Harrison’s back, it knew exactly which way to
go, the three of us walked behind them. Tomas think that he got his wish and upon arriving
seeing how dirty Tomas was Sheila and Farmer Jordan thought he was sleepwalking again and
just said see you in the morning.

Chapter 13: we walked back slowly across Rhys’s Field. We didn’t need Mandy’s torch;
the moon was bright. Both Josh and I was not in good condition, then I saw Mandy frowning and
then said that she doesn’t get why Josh was there when she thought he hated her. Josh replied
that I told her that she believed the stories he made up and that she was getting a wish or running
away. Mandy stopped and stared at us, she asked if I really think that that was the reason, and I
nodded, because I would hear her crying at night after hearing josh’s stories, I know because I
was scared too. Josh said sorry to her, then Mandy told us the reason why she was crying at
night, and told that that she was miserable, and said that we stole her dad away from her, that
there was nobody she could talk to, because her dad was mooning over mom, we didn’t expect
the sudden outburst and our mouths are hanging wide open. She shouted that I was only nice to
her when Josh was not around, and Josh was at least consistently nasty towards her, she said that
it was only mom who made her feel wanted, but she thought that it was only because of her dad,
and she thought that after having the baby everything will be okay, but we were sent here and
Gran Grampy are having problems with their house, after saying all it all, she cried and cried.
Josh and I doesn’t know what to do, we are both feeling bad towards her, my eyes were getting
moist as well. Harrison suddenly appeared, Mandy began to smile and then she looked at me and
Josh, we looked like kids who know they’ve gone too far, Mandy joked around and Josh grinned
back, Harrison then headbutted Josh so hard Mandy totally cracked up. The three of us were still
smiling as we tiptoed through the backdoor.

Chapter 14: it was gone eleven before I even opened my eyes the next morning. Something
had changed between Josh and me and Mandy, and it felt good. I met josh on the stairs and
reminded me to clean up because my PJs were covered in muddy smears and grass stains before
Gran and Grampy sees it. I went down to the kitchen and they were eating breakfast, with Mrs.
Jordan, Gran told me that he heard we were out midnight last night. I was looking at
Mandy with conscious eyes and I ended up saying that it was a lovely night which sounded so
feeble. Josh came and hesitated just like I did, but Gran told him that it was alright because she
heard all about last night already, Mandy gave him a tiny nod of encouragement, Mrs. Jordan
retold the story Tomas had been telling them and it was about Rhys Wish, they think it was just a
nightmare and made up by Tomas. I asked where Grampy is, he was in the field with Caradoc
Brand and some police officers, Josh and I nearly fell off our chairs. But they are giving us looks
of excitement, because they saw a human jaw under the birch trees, the police had to investigate
and look for more bones, and Caradoc Brand wasn’t able to get a planning permission and mr
Griffith won’t sell the farm anymore, Gran said there are more good news and she said that we
go home tomorrow with her. We were about to leave when Tomas came and told us that he can
finally keep the puppy that he wanted and he will name it flyer. And the Harrison and his cronies
were also there up against the gate. Perhaps saying goodbye too.
Chapter 15: Gran came back with us to Bristol, and we found mom already at home with a
red-faced crying baby on her knee. Mandy came to her and asked mom if she can hold her. Mom
asked us to give it a name, Josh and I just shook our heads, Mandy suggested ‘Thomas
Thompson’ like the little Tomas in Wales but spelled differently, mom and Rick agreed. Josh
yelled ‘Oi!’ and picked baby Thomas from Mom’s arms, the baby was completely silent. Josh
said ‘hey little bruv’, for a second, I felt weird and left out, Mandy reached across and pulled my
ear, “hello, big bruv’ she said and I said ‘hi, sis!’. We received a postcard from Grampy he said
that the Bone Yard is going to be part of the village museum, and said lovely message along the
letter.

End
__________________________________________________________
My analysis: Sharp Sheep by Vivian French was indeed full of excitement and adventures;
however, it didn’t live up to its genre specification which is supposedly horror, the story did not
give us the real horror feels, for me it only gave a creepy feeling in a mild way, like on how she
described the sheep and how the sheep behaved in the story. There were some missing parts
because it was a little vague about what could be the reason behind the attitude of Josh and why
he treats his brother like that at the beginning of the story. We know how he changed towards the
end but we don’t know the reason or if there’s any at all. One more thing, Rick and Mandy does
not have a given surname which only give emphasis to the Thompson’s, even the newborn baby
was named after the Thompsons’ which helped in building up the identities of the characters
throughout the story, since what they lack gave emphasis to one surname there was a focus in the
story.
The author also gave blurred diversion about the title and the happenings in the story, it’s true
that in the story there were parts where the sheep had some participation and they were indeed
special in a way that they can actually understand situation and even guide the characters to meet
at the Rhys Field, like what Paul said it looked like the sheep can see right through them, but
there’s more to the title Sharp Sheep, it may be pointing about how the sheep was always there
whenever they are having some troubles as if watching them with sharp lenses. However, the
story was not about the sheep at all, it was about the people in the story, because the quiet nature
of sheep has long made them emblems of peaceful co-existence; gentle affection and the ability
to accept guidance from an authority figure. The words ‘Sharp’ which can mean ‘harsh’, and the
‘Sharp Sheep’ was used as the title to symbolize the word’s true nature and connotation in the
story. Because at first the family had some issues about co-existing with each other due to
sudden changes and with the new people around them which they have come to solve and was
able to coexist at the very end of the story. I think there’s nothing that I want to change about the
sequence of the story, because the story itself is fun to read. However, I would like to see an
explanation and back story of how Josh became who he was because that missing part could
have played a big role in understanding and probably gaining sympathy from its readers, and a
better ending note perhaps because it only ended with the letter of Grampy Jenkins and a picture
of the family.

My reflection: the story told about complicated relationship between family members and
new family members, nowadays that kind of situation and relationships are getting more
common, and more often it’s not the parents that get affected by it, but the children who grew up
with different environments and care. In the case of Mandy, it was very understandable to get
confused and angry about the sudden environment change and the feeling of being left out and
feeling unwanted from the people in that house, her dad was her only ally but then she felt like
he was taken away from her, and she felt lonelier. Children may seem like they are doing just
fine, because the parents are doing well, but it is more tough and confusing to any child being in
that kind of situation. If I am in her shoes, I would also feel the same. Good thing that there are a
lot we can learn from this story. One is that facing your problems and voicing it out in the right
time and situation will set you free from a heavy heart. And being able to listen will help you to
have an open mind about the uncertainties of life, and the answers to our questions are just there,
we just need to take action and ask.
Like what the characters did, although they might have differences, they were able to confront it
and face it, and by admitting to their mistakes and by forgiving each other, people can have a
peace of mind and have a harmonious relationship.