Showing posts with label Michael Morpurgo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Morpurgo. Show all posts
Tuesday, 25 December 2018
ReadItDaddy's Booky Advent Calendar CHRISTMAS DAY: "Greatest Magical Stories" curated by Michael Morpurgo (OUP / Oxford Children's Books)
Michael Morpurgo is an incredibly talented and inventive writer in his own right, but here he brings together a stunning illustrated collection of some of his favourite stories from right across the globe.
"Greatest Magical Stories" is just the sort of book I used to love receiving for Christmas myself. A huge compendium that you can just chip away at, with amazing stories touched with a pinch of magic and mystery.
From tiny heroes to talking frogs, and meddling fairies to mysterious sea creatures, this is a timeless collection to treasure forever.
Beautiful colour illustrations bring the magical text to life.
There are lots of stories to choose from, including The Frog Prince, Sleeping Beauty, and a retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk written by Michael himself.
So whether you're looking for a quick read or a longer story to lose yourself in, something to read alone or a tale to share, there's a great magical story within for everyone to find.
A sumptuous gift edition for young readers to treasure.
"Greatest Magical Stories" curated by Michael Morpurgo is out now, published by OUP / Oxford Children's Books (kindly supplied for review).
Thursday, 7 December 2017
Booky Advent Calendar 2017 Day 7: "Greatest Magical Stories" chosen by Michael Morpurgo (OUP / Oxford Children's Books)
Labels:
Booky Advent Calendar 2017,
Greatest Magical Stories,
Michael Morpurgo,
OUP / Oxford Children's Books,
Various Artists and Authors
Monday, 28 July 2014
The National Literacy Trust's Wicked Young Writers Award - 100 entries shortlisted for the 2014 pool of entries
Labels:
Michael Morpurgo,
National Literary Trust,
The Duchess of Cornwall,
Wicked Young Writers Awards 2014
WICKED, the global musical phenomenon that tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, is proud to announce that 100 entries, selected from more than 5,200 submissions, have been shortlisted for the 2014 Wicked Young Writers’ Award.
The Award was established in 2010 as a way of linking the themes and messages of the long-running musical with a competition to inspire self-expression and creativity through the writing of young people aged between 5-25 years old.
This year’s entries saw young people exploring themes and concerns such as ageing, enduring love and loss, global warming, bullying, self-harm, and the effects of war.
Michael Morpurgo said of this year’s Award: “All these talented young writers have allowed their imagination to live and breathe. They haven’t been afraid to tell their stories and speak their poems down and to express themselves with originality and flair. I have loved reading their writing and hope that you will as well.”
Wicked’s Executive Producer, Michael McCabe said: “As a show, Wicked strives to draw upon the thrill of live performance to inspire discussion around its story and themes. It hugely rewarding to see so many young people across the country engage with these values through the Wicked Young Writers’ Award.”
In the younger categories, the entries were funny, scary and surprisingly complex: an alien helps a lonely little girl with cerebral palsy make new friends; a bully is given a dose of his own medicine; a happy, greedy Venus flytrap devours the world; and a surprisingly funny and mature poem about Albert Einstein.
Older categories’ entries, peopled with characters ranging from soldiers suffering with PTS to unwed teenage mothers, used sophisticated imagery and language to explore alienation, death, self-harm and struggling to conform without losing one’s identity.
The eldest 18-25 year old category was surprisingly mature, unselfconscious and insightful, providing a first look at the emerging voices of a new generation: moving, dark and sometimes playful themes comprised of repressed sexuality, love, murder and dementia. This is writing directly from the heart, trying to make sense of a complicated world.
The overall winners will be announced on Thursday 7 August at a special event at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre, home of the award-winning musical. The Award is championed by Patron Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall, and spearheaded by Chair Judge and bestselling author, Michael Morpurgo, who was joined in the shortlisting process by Michael McCabe, UK Executive Producer of Wicked, Dean Atta, acclaimed poet and playwright and Henry Smith, founder and director of Lend Me Your Literacy.
Discover more at www.WickedYoungWriters.com
Monday, 25 November 2013
Michael Morpurgo is right - Storytime in schools shouldn't purely be something for Nursery, Preschool and Reception classes
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| Reading to children - One of the most rewarding experiences ever? You betcha! |
We were quite shocked to find that Charlotte's school treats reading purely as a means of improving literacy now that she's reached year one. There are (woefully infrequent) visits to the school library but no story time, certainly no teachers-reading-to-children story time and that's pretty surprising really.
Many other parents (thankfully) ensure that children do get plenty of opportunities for story time out of school, but it feels odd to think that school is somewhere children spend such a huge amount of time, but are missing out on what I believe is a vital part of contributing to who they are and who they will eventually become.
Surely through stories we discover more about the world, and a lot more about ourselves - and of course in story sessions where children can contribute and interact with the storyteller (the best type of reading aloud) they get to discover a little bit about their peers too.
If by some sheer stroke of luck I was ever in a position that I didn't need to work long hours to pay the bills, I'd gladly volunteer to read stories to children in schools for the sheer love of it. Being given the opportunity to share stories, and perhaps give children who have little or no love for books at home a few glimpses into what they're missing out on would be a far greater achievement than crunching code or ensuring that yet another person gets to spend a huge amount of money on some vanity computer purchase.
To those schools who do nurture an environment where story time goes on beyond the age of 5, I stand up and salute you. You are bucking the trend where academic excellence is seen as the only measure, where testing and parrot-fashion learning are seen as the only choice to ensure that we won't be left behind in some nefarious skills 'arms race' that seems to be the way the government would like things to be. The same salute goes out to Michael Morpurgo and all the storytellers, illustrators and book folk who also believe the same thing - children need stories, and that need does not evaporate as soon as they hit 5.
Monday, 28 October 2013
Pinocchio by Michael Morpurgo and Emma Chichester-Clarke (HarperCollins Children's Books)
Pinocchio
Written by Michael Morpurgo
Illustrated by Emma Chichester-Clarke
Published by HarperCollins Children's Books
It seems like ages ago that Charlotte started Year 1 and gained access to the school library for the very first time. The first book she picked, from the shelves of books she had to choose from was Pinocchio - albeit the Disney treatment (I wrote a blog post about it, it was a very touching moment).
So when Michael Morpurgo and Emma Chichester-Clarke turned their hand to an adaptation of the classic by Carlo Collodi, I was intrigued. I love Michael Morpurgo's fantastic "War Horse" and have previously only seen one or two of his children's books (We have a copy of "It's a Dog's Life" at home that gets read very often!) so this would be an interesting book to delve into.
Emma's artwork brings Pinocchio to life (well, that's not strictly a spoiler is it?) Crammed with detail, deft characterisations and fabulous thrills, Pinocchio doesn't feel hewn from wood, it feels living and vivid - and this version is something to be treasured. Charlotte wanted to know why Pinocchio was so naughty all the time, why did he do those things and how did he end up being in so many scrapes and near-misses?
As she gets older, I can imagine her digging this out again to read on her own - to discover in it the story of a couple who make a puppet, that magically comes to life, that eventually has to learn the ways of the world (sometimes the hard way) and eventually gets his wish to be a real boy. It's a magical tale with the most moreish readability (a perfect book to spread over a series of bedtimes for maximum enjoyment and effect).
I loved the cheeky Michael and Emma cameo btw, and any book that features a certain plummy black dog who we just cannot get enough of, is a huge hit.
Charlotte's best bit: Though they're essentially the epitome of nastiness, Charlotte loved the blind cat and the fox!
Daddy's Favourite bit: Some rather lovely cameos in this, and an utterly wonderful version of a well-loved classic.
(Kindly sent to us for review by HarperCollins Children's Books)
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