Kensuke's Kingdom

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Kensuke's Kingdom is a novel by Michael Morpurgo, published in 1982.

[edit] Plot summary

The novel tells of a young boy, Michael, who's parents are made redundant. They decide to travel around the world on the yacht 'Peggy Sue', which his father bought. When he is on lookout one night, steering the boat, Michael and his dog Stella Artois are washed overboard, and awake, stranded on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean.

While Michael is struggling on the island, food is regularly being left for him. To his surprise, another old man called Kensuke is also living on the island, who helps Michael to survive. He sets guidelines that Michael thinks are just annoyances, and when he is nearly killed by a giant jellyfish, Kensuke tends to and eventually befriends him. Michael teaches Kensuke english, who in turn teaches Michael to paint, fish and where to find the best food and water. He is eventually revealed to be a doctor and survivor of WW II, and thinks his family are dead in Nagasaki after the atomic bomb hit. Michael leaves when his parents are spotted on the horizon, and Kensuke stays to look after the forest animals.

[edit] Awards

Kensuke's Kingdom won the Red House Children's Book Award in 2000.

The book was also honoured to be printed on FSC Mixed Recources Paper. "I am so pleased that this book is printed entirely on paper certified by the FSC, one of only a small number of books in the world to have have achieved this standard" Michael Morpurgo kensuke's kingdom sounds revolting