Kensuke's Kingdom

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Before reading the story, look at the chapter titles. Can you predict what might happen as the story progresses? Read the first sentence of the story: ‘I disappeared on the night before my twelfth birthday’. Why has the author used this as the first sentence? Could you use it as the start of your own story? Michael’s father has a dream to sail around the world. Do you have a dream? What steps do you need to take to achieve it?

Draw some sketches of the things that Michael saw during his time on the Peggy Sue, while he was on the island and inside Kensuke’s cave house. UK-based Lupus Films began production on an animated version of Kensuke's Kingdom in 2020. Voice actors for the animated version include Sally Hawkins, Cillian Murphy, and Ken Watanabe.Create your own map of the island, using information in the book (and Michael Morpurgo’s illustrations) to help you (see Resources below). Turn the story (or part of it) into a playscript and perform it. Watch this video of a stage version for inspiration: Imagine that you could interview Michael, Kensuke and / or his parents. What would you ask them? How might they respond at different points in the story? While the producers continue to build a team of production partners, Boyle and Hendry are moving forward with the development of the animatic and further production design for characters and environment.

While on his journey on the Peggy Sue, Michael uses a sextant, takes compass bearings, plots a course and fills in the longitude / latitude in the ship’s log. Can you learn how to do some (or all) of these tasks? Kensuke's Kingdom is a gripping adventure of survival and true friendship from the author of War Horse. Added Hendry: “Something that we have been focusing on in the last few years is the creative blend of mixed media. We like to see how the things we love can inhabit the same space — the charm of 2D hand drawn characters, the depth of photoreal worlds, the character of miniature environments, matte paintings and the random nature of filmed effects footage.” If you could ask the author questions about the book or his work, what would you ask? Watch this video in which he shares the answers to his five most asked questions: After some time, Michael and Kensuke start to form a bond but Michael knows he can’t stay on the island forever. After Kensuke realises how much Michael misses his family, he agrees to help him light a fire when they see the next ship. By miracle, the next ship is Michael’s parents who have been looking for him ever since he fell off the boat.Kensuke’s Kingdom is a thrilling adventure story from exceptional children’s writer Michael Morpurgo. Michael and Kensuke make a range of objects using materials from the island. Could you make your own clothes / equipment / tools using natural materials found on the ground?

Loved by children, teachers and parents alike, Michael Morpurgo, the former Children's Laureate, has written more than forty books and 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.

In August 2018, WildChild Productions took a theatrical adaptation of Kensuke's Kingdom by Stuart Paterson to Edinburgh Festival Fringe. [3] It featured a voiceover by Jenny Agutter. Kensuke’s Kingdom has strong themes of ecological conservation and respect for the environment, including a climactic showdown with poachers who are trying to overtake the island, and directors Boyle and Hendry have spent time investigating the best approach for visualizing the natural world onscreen. They’ve come up with a solution that balances organic elements with digital compositing, and which is both unique and visually striking. Imagine that Michael’s log book had floated ashore on the island. Can you write some more entries in it to describe his time there? The book follows Michael, his parents and their dog on the trip of a lifetime around the world. They leave their jobs and set sail but Michael and his dog fall overboard and they wake up on a desert island.

In the epilogue, Michael publishes his story after ten years, as Kensuke asked him to do, and receives a letter from Michiya, Kensuke's son, who reveals that he and his mother did indeed avoid the Nagasaki bombing, for they went to visit their grandparents during the bombing. Michael and Michiya meet, and Michael notes that Michiya laughs just like his father did. Look at the map of the world, as shown in the book. Can you identify the places Michael travelled to? Can you find out more information about each place? Could you calculate the distance that he travelled? Kensuke's Kingdom is a children's novel by Michael Morpurgo, illustrated by Michael Foreman. It was first published in 1999 [1] by Egmont UK. Since then, it has been released by various other publishers, such as Scholastic. [2] Book summary [ edit ] Imagine that you have just woken up alone on an island. Write a story that explains what happens next. Listen to the audiobook version of the story. Could you record your own audio version or the story (or part of it)?Michael spots a lot of amazing creatures on his adventure. Can you find out more about one (or more) of them? The front cover of the early edition has an illustration inspired by the work of Japanese painter Hokusai Katsushika. The painter is mentioned in the story, too. As a child Michael Morpurgo enjoyed reading Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, and although this book is very different to Kensuke’s Kingdom, they do share some common ground. Create a plan view of Kensuke’s cave house, using information from the book to include the correct features.