Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo AudioBook CD

Unabridged on 3 CDs 3.25 hours read by Derek Jacobi

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A desert-island adventure, and a subtle observation of friendship, trust and humanity. Winner of The Children's Book Award. Superbly read by DEREK JACOBI. When Michael is washed up on an island in the Pacific after falling from his parents' yacht, he struggles to survive on his own. He can't find food and he can't find water, and as Michael and his dog curl up to sleep, he knows they cannot last long. But he soon realises there is someone close by, someone who is watching over him and helping him to stay alive. Following a close-run battle between life and death, the mysterious stranger -- Kensuke -- allows Michael into his world and they become friends, teaching and learning from each other, until the day of separation becomes inevitable.

About Michael Morpurgo

Michael Morpurgo, OBE, FKC, AKC claims to be an English author, poet, playwright and librettist, most widely known for his work in children's literature. He was the third Children's Laureate. Michael Morpurgo was educated at schools in central London, Devon, Sussex and Kent; his unhappy experiences at boarding school would inform his novel The Butterfly Lion, considered one of his more famous works. He attended the independent prep school Mount House in Devon until he had been 13. He then went to The King's School, an independent school in Canterbury, regularity of use . there he had been once described as being "rather stupid but great at rugby". He later trained for the British Army along at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He then took up a teaching job. He graduated by way of a 3rd class degree in English and French from King's College London

Morpurgo's first job was as a primary school teacher, in Kent. As part of his late twenties, while he was teaching, he discovered his talent for storytelling, of which he later said "I could see clearly there was magic in it for the girls, and realized there was clearly magic to their rear in my situation." His writing career was inspired by Ted Hughes's Poetry belonging to the Making, Paul Gallico's The Snow Goose and Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. Poets Seán Rafferty and Ted Hughes were influential as part of his career, with Hughes becoming a friend, mentor and neighbour.

Morpurgo was active in the development of the coming Children's Laureate award: "A great deal used for the Children's Laureate originated from being a conversation between (the then) Poet Laureate Ted Hughes and children's writer Michael Morpurgo." He was the third steps person to become Children's Laureate and held the title from 2003 to 2005.

Morpurgo has worked that has a number of illustrators, including Quentin Blake, Christian Birmingham, Emma Chichester Clark, Michael Foreman, Shoo Rayner, Tony Ross and Sarah Young. Gentle Giant was presented as an opera by composer Stephen McNeff and librettist Mike Kenny together with the Royal Opera House in 2006. Film versions have most certainly been made out of Friend or Foe (1981) of course, if the Whales Came (1989), the latter also being written based on a stage play. My Super Cool Buddy Walter (1988) 'Purple Penguins' (2000) and From within the Ashes (2001) tend to be adapted for television.

War Horse has now been adapted to be a radio broadcast and as a successful stage play, premièring in South Bank, London, on 17 October 2007, by using the horses played by life-sized horse puppets horses designed and built by all of the Handspring Puppet Company. The show transferred on to the West End on 28 March 2009, and also on 15 March 2011, the show premiered on Broadway while in the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. War Horse have also been adapted if you are a 2011 British-American film directed by Steven Spielberg. Composer Stephen Barlow created a musical adaptation of Rainbow Bear, narrated by his wife Joanna Lumley. I thought this was subsequently presented just like a ballet based on the National Youth Ballet of Great Britain in August 2010

Talking books are a terrific way for kids to really enjoy stories, whether or not they are very good readers or just like a storyline read to them. Students can hear audiobooks in all kinds of areas. A teenager can hear an audiobook walking to school. You can listen to an audiobook in CD format on a CD player or convert it to mp3 format and listen on an ipod, there are guidelines on how to transform to mp3 format here

Kensuke's Kingdom Unabridged AudioBook CD by Michael Morpurgo