Book Info
Loading other formats...Format
Paperback80 pages
Author's Website
www.michaelmorpurgo.com/Illustrated By
Michael ForemanPublisher
Chrysalis Children's Books an imprint of Anova BooksPublication date
21st October 2005ISBN
9781844583669Children's Author 'Like-for-Like' recommendations
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Billy the Kid
Written by: Michael Morpurgo
Illustrated by: Michael Foreman
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Julia Eccleshare's comment:
This is a book for every generation to share but in particular for a grandfather to share with his grandson for this is the story of Billy, a supremely talented footballer who at 19 was picked to play for one of the top clubs. But it was 1939 and his life changed at the start of World War Two.
So here in Billy the Kid he tells his story but he intersperses it with a story about a group of youngsters who are playing football in the park; in the park he scored his first goal in over 70 years ago. Billy’s memories bring both joy and sadness to the book but first and foremost it’s a story for us all; to ensure we never forget the hardships his generation went through in order to bring future generations the country we now take for granted.
With the most wonderful nostalgic illustrations by Michael Foreman it’s a moving and inspiring tale.
Who is Julia Eccleshare ?
Synopsis
Billy the Kid by Michael MorpurgoBilly's no kid - he's eighty today. He's enjoying watching the boys in the park knock a football around and this afternoon he'll be cheering on his team, Chelsea, as he has done all his life. In 1939 Billy was picked for Chelsea. Not quite nineteen, and his dreams had come true: 'Billy! Billy the Kid!' they shouted as he scored goal after goal. Surely life could get no better. But in 1939 too, the Second World War began and Billy's life was never to be the same again. Through the story of Billy the Kid, Michael Morpurgo reaches across the generations and with Michael Foreman's nostalgically vivid illustrations, creates a life with a past that will be moving and inspiring for young and old alike.
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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