LoveReading4Kids Says
This wonderful story was inspired by a conversation that Michael Morpurgo and Michael Foreman had about a prison at Hollesley Bay in Suffolk that Michael Foreman remembered from growing up nearby. Into this Michael Morpurgo weaves his story of how the relationship between a man – who starts work in the prison stable - and a horse can change a life forever, when you show someone how to follow their dreams.
Master storyteller and former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo tells a heart-warming story of how a bad lad becomes a good lad as a result of being treated well and finding something to be good at and to love. A grandpa tells his life story evocatively capturing the changes that came over him when he was given the chance to take care of horses that he loved and cherished. Michael Foreman’s stunning illustrations capture the mood of the story perfectly.
A message from Philippa Perry who works at the publisher:
'Of the 20 or so books the two Michaels have written and illustrated together, I think this is truly one of the best and I heartily recommend it.'
In addition to our Lovereading expert opinion for Not Bad for a Bad Lad a small number of children were lucky enough to be invited to review this title. Here's a taster....'He was bad, he knew he was bad but when the grandfather is telling the story he always sees something positive about what and why it was happening.'
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Michael Morpurgo Press Reviews
Below is a review written by Tilly Dickinson, age 9
He was bad, he knew he was bad but when the grandfather is telling the story he always sees something positive about what and why it was happening.
I really liked this book, it is a grandfather telling his grandson the story of his life, it is him telling the truth...that he was bad and he isn't proud of the way he was. He tells the story that even though he was bad a few people could see the good in him, even when he couldn't and was sent to Borstal.
Every day he has to go for a run and the best bit was running past the stables because he liked the music that was playing and looking at the horses. Eventually he gets noticed by 'Mr Alfie' who runs the stables, he starts working and finds he loves it. He gets taught to respect the horses and discovers that they respect him back, particularly one horse 'Dombey' that he is put in charge of.
He leaves Borstal and finds he has nowhere to go and nothing to do until he helps a soldier with a nervous horse. The soldier sees how good he is with the horse and suggests that he joins the army where he meets his old friend 'Dombey'. I liked the way everything works out in the end, he gets to do the things he loves best, be with the horses and play drums. Basically it's not bad for a bad lad, he turned out okay.
The only thing I didn't like about the book was that it was too short, I wish it had lasted longer!
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Further Praise for Not Bad for a Bad Lad.
"A classic collaboration and a tale of redemption." Fiona Noble, The Bookseller
“… the message is that youngsters need to feel good about themselves." Nicolette Jones, Sunday Times
"This is a beautiful book, from cover to cover, and a beautiful story too. …" Armadillo Magazine
About Michael Morpurgo
Michael Morpurgo began writing stories in the early '70's, in response to the children in his class at the primary school where he taught in Kent. His books have sold over 35 million copies worldwide in almost 40 languages to date. A former Children’s Laureate and current President of BookTrust, Michael was knighted in 2018 for services to literature and charity. He has won many prestigious awards including the Smarties Prize, the Writers Guide Award, the Whitbread Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Eleanor Farjeon Lifetime Achievement Award.
His novels have been adapted in a number of plays and films including War Horse directed by Stephen Spielberg (2011), Private Peaceful, Waiting for Anya and Kensuke's Kingdom (2023) which has been nominated for 'Best Feature Film' at the 2024 British Animation Awards
The National Theatre’s adaption of War Horse has been seen by over 10 million people in over 100 cities around the world, broke the West End record for weekly ticket sales and won 5 Tony Awards and 2 Olivier Awards The National Theatre's global phenomenon of War Horse is returning to UK theatres in September 2024.
A son and grandson of actors, Michael has acting in his blood and enjoys collaborating and performing live adaptations of his books at festivals, concerts and theatres.
Michael's books have been translated into many languages including Chinese, Bulgarian and Hungarian, Hebrew and Japanese. He travels all over the UK and abroad talking to people of all ages at literary festivals, telling his stories and encouraging them to tell theirs.
With his wife Clare, he set up the charity Farms for City Children, which offers children and teachers from inner-city primary schools the chance to live and work in the countryside for a week on one of the charity’s three farms in Devon, Gloucestershire and Wales. Over 100,000 children have visited the three farms run by the charity since it began in 1976. Teachers frequently comment that a child can learn more in a week on the farm than a year in the classroom.
For more information about the work of Farms for City Children, please visit www.farmsforcitychildren.org
Michael Morpurgo lives in Devon with his wife Clare.
Anthony Horowitz on Michael Morpurgo:
'Michael Morpurgo is the most solid, classical of children's authors. He sits outside the series-driven blockbusters so beloved of publishers nowadays: he hasn't created a Harry Potter or an Alex Rider – and I admire him for resisting that. We are opposite sides of the same coin and, although his work has never influenced mine, I admire the eloquent, considered voice of his best books. He has an unerring moral compass – his schoolteacher past has never quite left him – and books such as War Horse and The Butterfly Lion have a strong social concience and an honesty that makes them universal.' (The Guardian)
In November 2016 Michael Morpurgo won the J M Barrie Award for his contribution to children’s literature. This award is given every year by Action for Children’s Arts to a “children’s arts practitioner” whose lifetime’s work has delighted children and will stand the test of time.
David Wood, chair of Action for Children’s Arts, said Morpurgo is “one of our greatest storytellers”.
“Michael Morpurgo has thrilled and delighted huge numbers of young readers since becoming a children’s author in the early 1970s," Wood said. "Action for Children’s Arts is delighted to recognise Michael’s outstanding contribution by presenting him with the J M Barrie Award 2016. His work will undoubtedly, like Peter Pan, stand the test of time, making him a truly worthy recipient of this award."
Morpurgo added: “Storymakers and storytellers like Barrie, and like all the previous winners of this award, have given us the hope and faith children need, we need, to keep flying, have sustained us through dark and troubled times, have banished doubt. To touch the lives of children, to witness their listening and reading silence, is reward enough in itself. This is simply the icing on the cake.”
Take a peek at Michael's 10 Rules for Writing.
You can also read about his life in War Child to War Horse, a collaborative biography with Maggie Fergusson.
More About Michael Morpurgo
