So, when the General Lee bound for New York calls at St Mary's for repairs to the mizzen mast Billy secures his passage as a cabin boy. He has left the islands before his parents know anything about it. Laura has lost her twin brother. She is devastated. Her parents are also devastated. They have lost their only son. And ill fortune besets the family. They lose their cows. It's a very bad time. Everyone is hungry and families start to drift away from Bryher. When Granny May had gone up to bed this evening Father said, 'It's like the beginning of the end. In a few years' time Bryher will be like Samson and Tean, abandoned and deserted, left to the rabbits and the birds.' He cried and I knew I didn't hate him any more, I knew I loved him still. Mother won't cry. I've never seen Mother cry. She put her arms around Father and held him, and that's the first time she's done that since Billy left. A pitch-perfect delivery brightens this familiar-seeming tale about stories that come true. Visiting his relatives at their farm in Wales every summer, Michael looks forward to Gramps's storytelling, Continue reading » I thought the opening was lovely and the chapters are brief with the first person narrative flitting between Michael and Laura. Elements of the story reminded me of Why the Whales Came which I thought to be far better. As he did with his WWI-era novel Private Peaceful, Morpurgo once again sets up a framing story for this tender novel about a family living through WWII in rural England. Shortly after Boowie's Continue reading »

Wreck of the Zanzibar by Michael Morpurgo | Waterstones The Wreck of the Zanzibar by Michael Morpurgo | Waterstones

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. This engrossing book by Michael Morpurgo has a poignant storyline about a close-knit family living on the island of Bryher in the Isles of Scilly. Although the story has a lot of sadness and hardship, it ends on a happy note. The story revolves around the lives of its main characters - Father, Mother, their children Billy and Laura and Granny May. In a disappointing effort, a distinguished British team turns out a plodding tale about a misunderstood, almost mute giant who saves the town and gets the girl. The cruel villagers call the giant Continue reading »The truth is that once we weren't children anymore, we never did believe Grandpa's story, not really\x97as much as we might have wanted to.... We still loved listening to it, though. Christmas nights Continue reading » A miracle is needed to save the island, to save granny and to save the marriage of Laura's parents.

Wreck of the Zanzibar drama ideas | KS2 English | Teachit The Wreck of the Zanzibar drama ideas | KS2 English | Teachit

Pooling their considerable talents once again, Morpurgo and Birmingham (previously teamed for Wombat Goes Walkabout) craft a superb picture book about a boy, a special swan and the sometimes cruel Continue reading » The island of Bryher is bleak and barren. Laura's father, a harsh and taciturn man, has turned his son Billy against island life with his incessant demands. Billy wants to see the world outside. Laura just wants to crew the island gig but her father is adamant in his refusal. No girl on any of the Scilly Isles has been an oarsman on a gig and no daughter of his is going to be the first. The illustrations are gorgeous, for their part, though, and really very enjoyable as an alongside. It's a small, distant story, and it does have a very significant (and, as it transpires, titular) turtle storyline so if you happen to find those traumatic, even by mention, this might cause more strife than you were expecting. Inspired by a true story about an elephant rescued from a Belfast zoo during WWII, acclaimed British author Morpurgo (War Horse) pens a historical novel about a German family's struggle to survive as Continue reading » Life on the island isn't easy, and this is repeatedly made clear throughout the book. The people of the island are constantly threatened by the forces of nature, wind and sea.

First published in the U.K. in 1997, this novella, billed as a sequel to Morpurgo's War Horse, reads more like a tender epilogue. Albert, who joined the British Army during WWI at age 14 intent on Continue reading » Morpugo is such an atmospheric and prolific author, it feels mean to not enjoy his books, which is, perhaps, part of the problem I had with this. I always think I'll love the work, and then sometimes I simply don't. Perhaps with this it's because there really isn't much to tell in this story, and perhaps in itself, that is a good change to have. There's a lot to think about, for younger readers, and a lot of putting oneself in the central character's place - imagining a kind of desolation it's hard to conjure up in an increasingly globalised world. Another lovely read from the fantastic Michael Morpurgo. I didn't enjoy this book as much as some of his others (Kensuke's Kingdom, Billy the Kid), but it was a nice young person's fiction to whiz through in-between some larger reads. Former British children’s laureate Morpurgo (War Horse) offers a sweet, touching historical novel (published in the U.K. in 2008) that balances sentimentality with humor and action. The orphaned Continue reading »

Wreck of the Zanzibar by Michael Morpurgo - Publishers Weekly The Wreck of the Zanzibar by Michael Morpurgo - Publishers Weekly

Like the acclaimed Number the Stars , this well-plotted novel features a young Gentile hero battling the Germans in their war against the Jews. As it opens, Jo is guarding the sheep when his dog Continue reading » I enjoyed reading this short book about the life of Laura, a girl living on a desolate island in the early 20th century. Lots of people may think that this book is too depressing for children so young but I felt reading it as a child I was able to relate to elements of the book, as they weren't to different from experience I was dealing with at the time. This book can be quiet dark and depressing at time but like in life if you continue to persevere and try your hardest things will get better.I loved the way in which Michael Morpurgo wrote the story, reading Laura's diary entries I felt that it was more personal and carried a lot more emotion. The story begins with Michael's great aunt Laura who has just passed away, who has left him her diaries for him to read. The diary is written over a year when Laura was 14 years old and documents her troubled family life that led to her twin brother running away to sea. This truly broke Laura's heart. The diary entries tells the story of this time for Laura and the events that led to Laura saving the day not just for her family but for everyone that lived on the the island of Bryher. Morpurgo (War Horse) fuses the devastation of war, anguish of the refugee experience, pain of losing loved ones, healing power of friendship, and redemptive influence of a dog's loyalty in this Continue reading » suspenseful, ultimately tragic novel opens as 18-year-old Tommo Peaceful stays up all night "to try to remember Continue reading »

EGMONT PRESS: ETHICAL PUBLISHING - 3J The Jaunty Jackals

When it comes to a choice between the rough, unrelenting work under his father's stern eye and the promise of adventure held out by Joseph Hannibal, a sea-faring visitor, there's no contest. Billy leaves in secret on the General Lee. Master storyteller Morpurgo imagines the ordeal of one of WWII’s grievously burned soldiers, narrated in a remarkably authentic voice by the man’s grandson, Michael. Michael’s mother tells him never Continue reading »

In trouble at school and at home, Harry can do little to please his demanding stepfather; Harry's mother, preoccupied with her new baby, has no time to spare for her eldest son. Harry's world is Continue reading » My only criticism of the book is that there is a little too much misery and sadness in the book which continues nearly till the end and can sometimes make the reading very depressing. However, the author keeps the characters very real and as a reader, I felt very involved in their lives. I would give it an 8/10 and would recommend it to those who enjoy realistic stories. A French boy guards the dangerous secret that Jewish children are being hidden from Nazis in his village. ""This well-plotted novel,"" said PW, ""is both gripping and temperate."" Ages 10-14. Continue reading » Following their Robin of Sherwood and Arthur, High King of Britain, Morpurgo and Foreman turn their talents to historical fiction about the Maid of Orl ans. Morpurgo frames his chronicle of Joan of Continue reading »