LoveReading4Kids Says
One of our Books of the Year 2015 - November 2015 Julia Eccleshare's Book of the Month
Award-winning Michael Morpurgo is always at his best when writing about the countryside and the animals in it. Here, in a story inspired by his wife’s childhood, he writes about young Clare, visiting Devon for the summer holiday from her home in London, and forging a very special friendship with an old man and his horse.
Michael Morpurgo brings the sights, sounds and smells of a hot summer in the English countryside vividly to life. Catherine Rayner’s delicate illustrations capture the scenes perfectly too.
Reviewed by Julia Eccleshare M.B.EJulia Eccleshare has a lifetime of working within children’s books as a critic, an editor, an author and a commentator.
More reviews by Julia Eccleshare M.B.E About Clare and her Captain
A stunning novella by the former Children's Laureate, inspired by his wife's countryside childhood and illustrated with exquisite full-colour artwork by multi-award-winning picture book and wildlife artist Catherine Rayner. Inspired by an episode from Clare Morpurgo’s childhood, Clare and her Captain is the story of the friendship between a young girl, an elderly hermit and his horse Captain during a long, hot summer in Devon. On holiday in the Devon countryside, Clare is bored by her parents' squabbling and longs for an adventure of her own. Her summer is transformed by a new friendship with retired horse Captain and his reclusive owner.
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Clare and her Captain Synopsis
A stunning novella by the former Children's Laureate, inspired by his wife's countryside childhood and illustrated with exquisite full-colour artwork by multi-award-winning picture book and wildlife artist Catherine Rayner. Inspired by an episode from Clare Morpurgo’s childhood, Clare and her Captain is the story of the friendship between a young girl, an elderly hermit and his horse Captain during a long, hot summer in Devon. On holiday in the Devon countryside, Clare is bored by her parents' squabbling and longs for an adventure of her own. Her summer is transformed by a new friendship with retired horse Captain and his reclusive owner.
This is a must-have for every fan of Morpurgo's classic storytelling and Rayner's highly sought-after artwork, and a gift to treasure for young and old. Capturing perfectly the frustrations of a solitary childhood and the rhythms of countryside life, the book also features an afterword by Clare Morpurgo on the real-life events that became the novel.
Publisher Mairi Kidd says, “Sally Gardner struck a chord with so many of us when she described being ‘heartbroken that being grown-up meant reading books without illustrations’. It’s delightful to see a new appreciation of illustration in fiction emerge, thanks in no small part to Sally’s own collaboration with David Roberts on Tinder and wonderful books like A Monster Calls.
In Clare and her Captain we had a wonderful chance to be part of this exciting new movement, bringing together Michael Morpurgo and Catherine Rayner’s superlative storytelling in word and picture. We all deserve pictures.”
Catherine’s illustrations for Clare and her Captain combine delicate silk-screen printed backdrops with vibrant watercolour, enhanced by Catherine’s signature touches of metallic ink and paints. Her wildlife observation 
is flawless and her flair for visual storytelling shines through in every spread.
Catherine imagined a detailed backstory for each and every picture on Thatcher Jones's wall.
Catherine had never painted a donkey before working on Clare and her Captain – she says they are now one of her favourite animals to draw!
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781781125281 |
| Publication date: |
25th January 2017 |
| Author: |
Michael Morpurgo |
| Illustrator: |
Catherine Rayner |
| Publisher: |
Barrington Stoke Ltd |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
86 pages |
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About Michael Morpurgo
Michael Morpurgo began writing stories in the early '70's, in response to the children in his class at the primary school where he taught in Kent. His books have sold over 35 million copies worldwide in almost 40 languages to date. A former Children’s Laureate and current President of BookTrust, Michael was knighted in 2018 for services to literature and charity. He has won many prestigious awards including the Smarties Prize, the Writers Guide Award, the Whitbread Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Eleanor Farjeon Lifetime Achievement Award.
His novels have been adapted in a number of plays and films including War Horse directed by Stephen Spielberg (2011), Private Peaceful, Waiting for Anya and Kensuke's Kingdom (2023) which has been nominated for 'Best Feature Film' at the 2024 British Animation Awards
The National Theatre’s adaption of War Horse has been seen by over 10 million people in over 100 cities around the world, broke the West End record for weekly ticket sales and won 5 Tony Awards and 2 Olivier Awards The National Theatre's global phenomenon of War Horse is returning to UK theatres in September 2024.
A son and grandson of actors, Michael has acting in his blood and enjoys collaborating and performing live adaptations of his books at festivals, concerts and theatres.
Michael's books have been translated into many languages including Chinese, Bulgarian and Hungarian, Hebrew and Japanese. He travels all over the UK and abroad talking to people of all ages at literary festivals, telling his stories and encouraging them to tell theirs.
With his wife Clare, he set up the charity Farms for City Children, which offers children and teachers from inner-city primary schools the chance to live and work in the countryside for a week on one of the charity’s three farms in Devon, Gloucestershire and Wales. Over 100,000 children have visited the three farms run by the charity since it began in 1976. Teachers frequently comment that a child can learn more in a week on the farm than a year in the classroom.
For more information about the work of Farms for City Children, please visit www.farmsforcitychildren.org
Michael Morpurgo lives in Devon with his wife Clare.
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)
In November 2016 Michael Morpurgo won the J M Barrie Award for his contribution to children’s literature. This award is given every year by Action for Children’s Arts to a “children’s arts practitioner” whose lifetime’s work has delighted children and will stand the test of time.
David Wood, chair of Action for Children’s Arts, said Morpurgo is “one of our greatest storytellers”.
“Michael Morpurgo has thrilled and delighted huge numbers of young readers since becoming a children’s author in the early 1970s," Wood said. "Action for Children’s Arts is delighted to recognise Michael’s outstanding contribution by presenting him with the J M Barrie Award 2016. His work will undoubtedly, like Peter Pan, stand the test of time, making him a truly worthy recipient of this award."
Morpurgo added: “Storymakers and storytellers like Barrie, and like all the previous winners of this award, have given us the hope and faith children need, we need, to keep flying, have sustained us through dark and troubled times, have banished doubt. To touch the lives of children, to witness their listening and reading silence, is reward enough in itself. This is simply the icing on the cake.”
Take a peek at Michael's 10 Rules for Writing.
You can also read about his life in War Child to War Horse, a collaborative biography with Maggie Fergusson.
More About Michael Morpurgo
