LoveReading4Kids Says
One of our Books of the Year 2016 | A Julia Eccleshare Book of the Month October 2016 Award-winning Michael Morpurgo weaves a charming and witty story around sport and history as they have come together in the recent twin triumphs of the City of Leicester with the discovery of the remains of King Richard III in a car park and Leicester City football club winning the 2016 Premier League. The link between the two? A family of foxes! When Daddy Fox finds the ghost of the king and helps to release him from an unseemly grave he is granted one royal wish. What will it be? As a mad-keen footballing family the Foxes have one over-riding wish; that Leicester City can go top of the League. Can the King do it? You bet he can! Michael Foreman captures the spirit of this entertaining adventure perfectly. ~ Julia Eccleshare
Nick Lake at HarperCollins Children’s Books said “Michael is the master, and The Fox and the Ghost King has all the hallmarks of his inimitable storytelling: it’s a ghost story, a fairy tale, and a classic animal adventure, all rolled into one timeless magic spell”
Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for October 2016
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
The Fox and the Ghost King by Michael Morpurgo
Coming to England by Floella Benjamin
Winnie and Wilbur Meet Santa by Valerie Thomas
A Piglet Called Truffle by Helen Peters
Owl Bat Bat Owl by Marie Louise Fitzpatrick
We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen
Leafy the Pet Leaf by Philip Ardagh
The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher
LoveReading4Kids
Find This Book In
Suitable For: |
|
Other Genres: |
|
Recommendations: |
|
The Fox and the Ghost King Synopsis
A warm and funny story for younger readers, about two foxes, a ghost and one of the biggest archaeological discoveries in living memory…
'A heartwarming tale for animal lovers and football fans alike' Guardian
In a cosy den under a garden shed lives a family of foxes. They love to watch football, all foxes do. One day, they are surprised by a ghostly voice coming from deep underground. The stranger promises to grant the foxes their dearest wish if they only set him free.
With their favourite football team on a losing streak, the foxes know exactly what to wish for. But can they trust the mysterious stranger?
About This Edition
ISBN: |
9780008638634 |
Publication date: |
29th February 2024 |
Author: |
Michael Morpurgo |
Illustrator: |
Michael Foreman |
Publisher: |
HarperCollins Children's Books an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers |
Format: |
Paperback |
Pagination: |
142 pages |
Suitable For: |
|
Other Genres: |
|
Recommendations: |
|
Michael Morpurgo Press Reviews
Praise for Michael Morpurgo:
Michael Morpurgo writes brilliantly about war and animals, conveying the big emotions without preaching. Guardian
Champagne quality over a wide range of subjects. Daily Telegraph
There are few children's writers as compelling as Michael Morpurgo. Daily Express
Morpurgo, as always, is subtle and skilful, and incorporates social and moral issues into his writing without being self-righteous or detracting from the quality of the narrative Elizabeth Reilly, British Council
The former children's laureate has the happy knack of speaking to both child and adult readers. Guardian
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