Michael Morpurgo is one of this country’s most famous, respected and prolific authors and Kensuke’s Kingdom is one of his most well-known books that regularly features on junior school reading lists.
It’s an epic adventure of a boy (Michael) and his dog (Stella Artois) who wash up on a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean following an accident on the boat he was sailing with his parents.
It’s a fantastic premise for a story and this island setting has been seen many times before in some of the greatest novels ever written – Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island, even Peter Pan. The reader gets to image how they would survive (and, if indeed, they think they might) in such a place with none of the comforts of modern life and without the support of their family.
If you are doing an Explorers and Survivors topic in KS2, it a great story to contrast with a non-fiction book, such as Ernest Shackleton’s adventures in the Antarctic. It’s also not too long, which is always helpful for a class text.
Tom, age 11, says: “I really like the book because it was a fun, exciting adventure. I think it might be fun to be on a deserted island because I quite like being on my own. Then again, I’m not sure how I’d get food and water. I’d have to go and scavenge around for food and I wouldn’t know where to look. It would probably just hurt my legs a lot and I wouldn’t like that.
I think the saddest part of the story was when Michael left the island. I understand why he had to go and be with his family, but it must have been hard to leave Kensuke.
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