Book Info
Loading other formats...Format
Hardback64 pages
Author's Website
www.michaelmorpurgo.com/Illustrated By
Emma Chichester ClarkPublisher
Walker Books LtdPublication date
15th September 2011ISBN
9781406315110Children's Author 'Like-for-Like' recommendations
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The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Written by: Michael Morpurgo
Illustrated by: Emma Chichester Clark
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Julia Eccleshare's comment:
Award-winning former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo is an excellent storyteller and here he is at his best. Seen through the eyes of two children, he captures the greed of the wealthy, the abject poverty of the poor and the terrible grief of all when the Pied Piper leads away the children. Retold in a simple and compelling style this is a lovely book to read aloud or alone. Emma Chichester Clark’s beautiful illustrations add delicate details to the text bringing it alive for all ages.
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Synopsis
The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Michael MorpurgoThis is a spell-binding modern retelling of a classic children's tale, a compelling new take on this timeless story by master storyteller and former children's laureate Michael Morpurgo, with glorious illustrations by Emma Chichester Clark. In the town of Hamelin, the rich and greedy live like kings and queens while the poor and sick scavenge rubbish tips for scraps. A lame orphan boy tells the classic tale of how a plague of rats take over the town and how a fantastic piper offers to rid Hamelin of its rats for a single gold coin, then lures away the town's children when the greedy mayor breaks his word.
Michael Morpurgo’s retelling of the classic Browning poem couldn’t come at a more appropriate time in the aftermath of the riots by young people in London and other UK cities in August 2011. Michael Morpurgo says, “We are failing our young people who feel they are living without hope, without jobs and or a sense of a future.” Michael has skillfully woven contemporary social and environmental themes into his story.
Reviews
'Morpurgo is such a gifted storyteller that he manages to deliver the underlying darkness of this old fable with contemporary relevance.. A book to pass through the generations.' Daily Mail
About The Author
Michael Morpurgo was our Guest Editor in June 2010. Click here to see the books that inspired his writing.
Michael Morpurgo has written over one hundred books and won many awards. In 1976 Michael and his wife Clare started the charity Farms For City Children, which aims to relieve the poverty of experience of young children from inner city and urban areas. In 1999 they were awarded the MBE for their work in creating these farms and in 2006 Michael received an OBE.
His novel War Horse has been adapted into a hugely successful and critically acclaimed West End play and a film directed by Steven Spielberg. Michael is a tireless champion for children’s books and was formerly the Children’s Laureate. Loved by children, teachers and parents alike, Michael Morpurgo has 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.
Anthony Horowitz on Michael Morpurgo:
'Michael Morpurgo is the most solid, classical of children's authors. He sits outside the series-driven blockbusters so beloved of publishers nowadays: he hasn't created a Harry Potter or an Alex Rider – and I admire him for resisting that. We are opposite sides of the same coin and, although his work has never influenced mine, I admire the eloquent, considered voice of his best books. He has an unerring moral compass – his schoolteacher past has never quite left him – and books such as War Horse and The Butterfly Lion have a strong social concience and an honesty that makes them universal.' (The Guardian)
Why not CLICK HERE to take a peek at Michael’s 10 Rules for Writing.
or Click here to read a Q&A with the author from top children's publisher Egmont.
Michael is the inaugural President of the Historical Writers Association starting from Autumn 2011. The Historical Writers' Association (www.thehwa.co.uk) will celebrate its first anniversary in October. It was founded to bring social and professional support to writers of historical fiction and non-fiction, publishers, agents and booksellers, all bound both by their common interest in historical books and by the sense of community that comes from a shared obsession.
Since its creation, the Historical Writers' Association has launched the first Festival of Historical Writing in association with English Heritage as part of their Festival of History at Kelmarsh in Northamptonshire this July. In September, a partnership was announced with Goldsboro Books to launch a new literary prize, the HWA/Goldsboro Crown for Debut Historical Fiction, the first of which will be presented at Goldsboro's History in the Court Festival next year on 27th September 2012.
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