As a child Michael Morpurgo enjoyed reading Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, and although this book is very different to Kensuke’s Kingdom, they do share some common ground. Listen to the audiobook version of the story. Could you record your own audio version or the story (or part of it)? Read the first sentence of the story: ‘I disappeared on the night before my twelfth birthday’. Why has the author used this as the first sentence? Could you use it as the start of your own story?

Imagine that you have just woken up alone on an island. Write a story that explains what happens next. An utterly magical of one boy’s desert island adventure – full of friendship, trust and humanity. From the nation’s favourite storyteller. Kensuke's Kingdom is a gripping adventure from the author of War Horse. Michael Morpurgo has written more than one hundred books for children and won the Whitbread Award, the Smarties Award, the Circle of Gold Award, the Children’s Book Award and has been short-listed for the Carnegie Medal four times.Added Hendry: “Something that we have been focusing on in the last few years is the creative blend of mixed media. We like to see how the things we love can inhabit the same space — the charm of 2D hand drawn characters, the depth of photoreal worlds, the character of miniature environments, matte paintings and the random nature of filmed effects footage.” In August 2018, WildChild Productions took a theatrical adaptation of Kensuke's Kingdom by Stuart Paterson to Edinburgh Festival Fringe. [3] It featured a voiceover by Jenny Agutter.

Washed up on an island in the Pacific, Michael struggles to survive on his own. With no food and no water, he curls up and closes his eyes ready for the end. When he wakes, there is a plate beside him of fish, of fruit, and a bowl of fresh water. He is not alone … Kensuke, the Japanese soldier who Michael meets on the island, is named after one of Micheal’s fans who he met at a book signing event. It’s pronounced Kensky. While on his journey on the Peggy Sue, Michael uses a sextant, takes compass bearings, plots a course and fills in the longitude / latitude in the ship’s log. Can you learn how to do some (or all) of these tasks? Kensuke's Kingdom is a children's novel by Michael Morpurgo, illustrated by Michael Foreman. It was first published in 1999 [1] by Egmont UK. Since then, it has been released by various other publishers, such as Scholastic. [2] Book summary [ edit ]Michael and Kensuke make a range of objects using materials from the island. Could you make your own clothes / equipment / tools using natural materials found on the ground?

Before reading the story, look at the chapter titles. Can you predict what might happen as the story progresses? The producing team behind Kensuke’s Kingdom is now comprised of Camilla Deakin and Ruth Fielding of Lupus Films, Sarah Radclyffe (co-founder of Working Title Films and producer of over 30 live-action films), Barnaby Spurrier ( Deadtime Stories for Big Folk, Somers Town), and Stephan Roelants of Melusine Productions.Turn the story (or part of it) into a playscript and perform it. Watch this video of a stage version for inspiration: Create a plan view of Kensuke’s cave house, using information from the book to include the correct features.