Michael Morpurgo's Top Book Recommendations

Michael MorpurgoIt’s really a story not just about an autistic child, but an autistic man as well. Set in the cam argue region of France. (Source)

Michael MorpurgoIt is a family story. It’s present and precious in my life. It also is the reason I think, at least in part, why I’ve become what I’ve become. (Source)

Michael MorpurgoI was trying to, I suppose, put myself in the shoes of that child in that village meeting those soldiers, and then the conflict of being part of the secret organization that was taking these kids across into Spain. (Source)

Michael MorpurgoIt really is to say to children you don’t start a story with just a blank sheet. You begin with what you know, with what you care about. (Source)

Michael MorpurgoI think in the heart of almost every man and woman there is this fear that if you were put in that position where you had to show courage, your courage might fail you. (Source)

Chris WalshIt’s the classic novel of the American Civil War. Henry Fleming — the youth whose tale is told — is worried throughout whether he will find he’s a man of traditional courage, or whether he’ll find that he is a coward. (Source)

Michael MorpurgoI don’t remember much about my grandfather except that he was an old man with a beard and he used to sit me on his lap. He had a great tweed suit and smoked a pipe, so his beard smelt of tobacco. I remember putting my fingers in his beard and he would read me these wonderful rhymes, and there were those extraordinary drawings as well which I can see as I am speaking to you. They were wonderful... (Source)

Michael MorpurgoYes, I’ve picked the story of ‘The Elephant’s Child’. It’s pure nostalgia. It was the first book I was ever read and the first book I ever wanted to hear again and again and again simply because I just love the language of it. I love the music and the words and the way he writes, things like, ‘the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever trees’. I haven’t got a clue what... (Source)

Michael MorpurgoI think the books that really make a difference are the ones that touch the deepest part of you. We like to laugh and we need to laugh. But I think we also know we can feel loss and we can feel pain. And we can empathise with other people’s loss and pain. Maybe this is the way we can feel we are not alone. If you read about feelings of loss and pain in a book you can relate to it. (Source)

Richard BransonToday is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. (Source)

Barack ObamaDuring a trip to a public library in Washington’s Anacostia neighborhood in 2015, Obama shared some of his childhood favorites with a group of young students. He also read (and acted out) Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak to kids at the White House in 2014. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald Where the Wild... (Source)

Michael MorpurgoThis is the first book that I ever read on my own and I take great pleasure and pride in that. It was the first book where I really identified strongly with the boy Jim in it. He was about the same age as I was when I began reading it. (Source)

Michael MorpurgoMore than any other small boy I’ve ever put in a book that boy is me. (Source)

Will Travers@msndodo90 @ElsasKopje @BornFreeFDN @BornFreeUSA @kws @elewana @MichaelMorpugo Ah. The Butterfly Lion is a wonderful book. My mum (Virginia) read the audio version. She will be doing a performance of The Best Christmas Present in the World with the genius Michael Murpurgo later this year. Best wishes Will (Source)