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Kensuke's Kingdom |  |
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Kensuke's Kingdom | |
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-8-This poignant adventure story begins in England in 1988 and ends halfway around the globe in a place that will change the 11-year-old protagonist forever. After losing his job, Michael's father surprises the family by purchasing a yacht in which they will sail around the world. In the first weeks at sea, Michael, his parents, and his dog, Stella, zigzag from England to Australia and across the Coral Sea, where Michael's reverie comes to a frightening end. In the middle of the night, he and Stella are swept overboard in a fierce storm, and he later awakens on an island beach. The island is a hostile jungle full of howling gibbons, voracious mosquitoes, and brutal heat, all of which challenge his ability to survive. Yet when he finds fresh water and food mysteriously laid out for him each morning, he realizes that he is not alone. He soon comes face-to-face with Kensuke, an old Japanese soldier who cautiously protects Michael in spite of the boy's dogged determination to build a bonfire that will signal potential rescuers, defying Kensuke's wish that the outside world never learn of his existence on the island. For nearly a year, the man and boy help each other, moving from an uneasy d‚tente to a deep friendship. What might have been just a gritty tale of survival evolves into a gentle parable about trust, compassion, love, and hope. This well-crafted story has all the thrills and intrigues of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet (Macmillan, 1986) and Theodore Taylor's The Cay (Avon, 1976), and it will resonate with the same audience.
William McLoughlin, Brookside School, Worthington, OH
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 4-7. A young boy is stranded on a small island with a man from a much different background who helps him survive. Does this sound like Theodore Taylor's The Cay (1969)? You bet, but it's also the plot of this highly readable British survival novel. When narrator Michael falls overboard, he ends up on a Pacific island, rescued by Kensuke, an old Japanese man who supplies him with food and water, but from a distance. Although Kensuke's broken English makes him sound uneducated, he was a doctor before he became stranded on the island at the end of World War II. He and Michael eventually forge a friendship in which Kensuke teaches the boy both survival skills and Japanese painting. Morpurgo avoids the stereotypes that characterize Taylor's novel, focusing, instead, on developing a touching relationship between Kensuke, who has been without human company for 40 years, and Michael, who learns to love the old man yet still longs for home. The end is bittersweet but believable, and the epilogue is a sad commentary on the long-lasting effects of war. Kathleen Odean
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
More adventure than ordeal, this survival tale will fit the bill for thoughtful readers discomfited by extreme violence or gross details. To Michael, the round-the-world sail he's taking with his parents aboard the 42-foot Peggy Sue is great fun, until the moment he and his dog Stella Artois are washed overboard. Michael comes to on a small island, inhabited by gibbons, a colony of orangutans-and Kensuke, a Japanese naval doctor stranded there more than 40 years before. The plot centers around Michael's emotional ups and down as he battles loneliness and mosquitoes, then grows closer to his rescuer, who supplies him with food and water, but makes him stay on one end of the island, at least until he's stung by a jellyfish, and needs nursing back to health. Kensuke has built a small, beautiful world for himself that he teaches Michael to see, and to paint, in exchange for English lessons and news of the outside. When Michael's steadfast parents arrive, after nearly a year's searching, to carry him and Stella away, Kensuke opts to stay behind-but it's plain that his spirit and simplicity have worked profound changes on his young charge. A prizewinning import: sensitive, perceptive, and well-told. (Fiction. 10-12) (Kirkus Reviews)
When Michael's parents are made redundant, they decide to sail round the world. But Michael is washed overboard while both parents are asleep, and finds himself on a deserted island where food and water are mysteriously provided for him. This is Michael's evocative account of his time on the island, not knowing what has happened to his parents or whether he will ever be rescued. Shortlisted for the Whitbread Award. (11 yrs +)When Michael's parents are made redundant, they decide to sail round the world. But Michael is washed overboard while both parents are asleep, and finds himself on a deserted island where food and water are mysteriously provided for him. This is Michael's evocative account of his time on the island, not knowing what has happened to his parents or whether he will ever be rescued. Winner of the Children's Book Award 2000, which is voted on by children only. (11 yrs +) (Kirkus UK)
Michael Morpurgo, former Children's Laureate of Britain, is the author of War Horse, called "Superb" by the New York Times Book Review, and now a major motion picture. His other prize-winning books include Kensuke's Kingdom, Private Peaceful, and The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips. Michael lives in Devon, England, with his wife, Clare. Together, they founded the charity Farms for City Children, which gives children from urban areas an opportunity to spend a week working on a farm in the countryside. You can find out more about him and his books at michaelmorpurgo.org.
网友对Kensuke's Kingdom的评论
书上标着6.99美元，结果买下来花了91元，以为是一系列的，原来就一本书，太贵了，以后看清楚才能下手
外教推荐的书，女儿喜欢，适合英语水平不高的初中生！
Reading as an adult I can really appreciate Morpungo's fantastic story telling ability. Kids will love it. And if I was 10 years old I would definitely have given this a 5 star rating. What a great author to take kids away from the "series" books that are dominating children's book lists and give them more interesting topics that teach them about life.
I just finished the book! Right now, I'm still in post book awe! Wow! What a story! Beautiful right down to the last sentence. This may be the most heart touching book ever. I am speechless!!!!! The tale of relationships and simple living. Heartbreak and joy all at the same time. Please do not miss this story!
I love all the books by Michael Morpurgo. I read a lot of mysteries and courtroom dramas and I pick a book by this author to lift me up. "War Horse" was a favorite of mine. I am going to order "An Elephant In The Garden" soon, I recommend his books to all my grandchildren.
Great life lessons to be learned and taken away from reading this book. I enjoyed it very much and recommend it for any age level
Great book! I am 9 years old and my favorite book so far! It kept my interest the whole time!
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