LoveReading4Kids Says
Awarding winning storyteller Michael Morpurgo spins a spellbinding yarn of survival in modern classic. Michael and his dog Stella Artois are swept overboard from their parents’ ship and swept up onto the shore of a nearby island. Michael puts all his survival skills to good effect but how will he manage on his own as there seems to be no water or food to be found? Luckily, there is life on the island and when Michael wakes up he finds food and drink have been put out for him. Who is the mysterious man who brings it and can Michael trust him? An exciting story with a touching friendship at its core.
Kensuke's Kingdom won the Children's Book Award 2000 and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book Award and the Carnegie Medal in 2000 and has sold over 400,000 copies worldwide.
In addition to our Lovereading expert opinion for Kensuke's Kingdom a small number of children were lucky enough to be invited to review this title. Here's a taster....'Kensuke's Kingdom is very atmospheric and you can imagine yourself on the island along with Michael, Stella and Kensuke. I would recommend this story to all readers either to read alone or together.'
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Kensuke's Kingdom Synopsis
I heard the wind above me in the sails. I remember thinking, this is silly, you haven't got your safety harness on, you haven't got your lifejacket on. You shouldn't be doing this...I was in the cold of the sea before I could even open my mouth to scream. Washed up on an island in the Pacific, Michael struggles to survive on his own. With no food and no water, he curls up to die. When he wakes, there is a plate beside him of fish, of fruit, and a bowl of fresh water. He is not alone...From the author of War Horse comes this tale of survival against all odds, set against the dramatic backdrop of the Pacific and recalling memories of the Second World War. This is a remarkable and unforgettable story.
This Egmont Heritage edition features stunning black and white illustrations by the award-winning illustrator Michael Foreman.Download the introduction - here -by Egmont Heritage, which gives the background and inspiration to this wonderful story.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781405267373 |
| Publication date: |
26th September 2013 |
| Author: |
Michael Morpurgo |
| Publisher: |
Egmont Books Ltd an imprint of Egmont UK Ltd |
| Format: |
Hardback |
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Michael Morpurgo Press Reviews
Here is a written review by James Goodall age 9.
Kensuke's Kingdom is my best Michael Morpurgo story and it is about a boy called Michael who gets shipwrecked on an island with nothing but his clothes and his dog, Stella, to keep him company. Michael tries to signal to passing ships but then an old man, Kensuke, appears and tells him not to light fires to attract attention. One day the boy goes for a swim and wakes up to find Kensuke nursing his wounds. This is the beginning of their friendship and they do amazing things together and the boy gets to see orang-utans that the man has trained and learn all about how he has lived and survived on the island.
Michael Morpurgo's books are always interesting and engaging and you become totally lost in their story. Kensuke's Kingdom is very atmospheric and you can imagine yourself on the island along with Michael, Stella and Kensuke. I would recommend this story to all readers either to read alone or together.'
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
