Yussuf the Ostrich
Emery Kelen
Hardcover
(Hyperion Press, Sept. 3, 1943)
From dust jacket flap: "There could scarcely be a book for children more timely than this tale of Yussuf, the brave and intellectual Ostrich who took so valiant a part in the North African campaign. Yussuf's intellectual power was apparent almost from birth, and he braved the scorn of his fellows by attending an Arab school."...This is the story of an Ostrich who joins the Allied Army in North Africa during WWII. He is captured by the Nazis and put to work walking the pet Dachshunds of the vain Nazi General. He escapes with the help of some kindhearted Dachshunds. Set against the North African campaign, this represents a way in which children of that era were taught about the evils of Nazism. A one-of-kind story rarely seen today. The author, Emery Kelen, was one of a famous team of international cartoonist at that time.