This book is a riveting read and wonderful at engaging football mad kids into reading. The story is really gripping and brilliantly moulded into manageable sized chapters. The plot is fast moving and keeps you wanting to read on. It also cleverly grabs your attention to want to find out more about this period in history. The story of the ghost king found under the car park is gripping for adults and children alike. Michael Morpurgo expertly uses animals, in this case a family of foxes to weave a thoroughly magical and yet believable tale about winning when it seems impossible. I loved this book for its brilliant story telling and vivid illustrations by Michael Foreman which really brought it to life. The class can then choose another setting – the desert, the tundra – and use the same techniques to create the feeling of being there. Animal adventures The Butterfly Lion Read as a class and imagine what it would be like to be there. Next, look carefully at how the author describes the setting. This can support children’s own development as writers.

The Fox and the Ghost King Michael Morpurgo KS2 or KS3 - Tes The Fox and the Ghost King Michael Morpurgo KS2 or KS3 - Tes

The winners of The Farshore Reading for Pleasure Teacher Awards 2023, highlighting the work schools are doing to encourage a love of reading, have...

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This is a great book for young readers (girls and boys ages 6 to 9) who love British football (soccer). It reads like a fairy tale about a family of foxes who are big fans of the Leicester City Football Club, known as the Foxes. In a note by the author at the end, the parts about King Richard III ('the ghost king") and the Leicester City FC are all based on actual events.

The Fox and the Ghost King – Collins The Fox and the Ghost King – Collins

Every fox in the whole town, in the whole country just about, is a football fan… And we all have an impossible dream.”What a delightful combination! Foxes supporting their team Leicester City! Leicester City Football team pulling off one of the greatest wins in football history and let’s not forget the discovery of the burial place of King Richard III and all the excitement this find had in the historical world and of course, being able to finally give the king the burial he deserved.

The Fox and the Ghost King - LoveReading4Kids

Use Morpurgo’s tale of a boy who spies a bottlenose whale in the Thames as the centrepiece of your next Key Stage 2 storybook curriculum. 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. 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." You can also read about his life in War Child to War Horse,a collaborative biography with Maggie Fergusson. I took one star off because the appendix includes incorrect information about the Wars of the Roses - e.g. Richard's title, he was Duke of Gloucester, not Duke of York - and due to the fact that the book could have been much longer. I read it in an hour.The references to historical events could be used for a variety of lessons within school. Historically, they did find Richard III, but there are a lot of references to Shakespeare and his portrayal of the king in Richard III. Ideas include writing a persuasive letter from the main character’s perspective in boarding school, a survival guide for lions and a plot outline for the novel. Where My Wellies Take Me, by Michael and Clare Morpurgo, uses 40 evocative poems to celebrate the wonder of childhood, germinating a love of verse that will stay with pupils for many years to come.