By Michael Morpurgo (author) , Emma Chichester Clark (illustrator)
Paperback In Stock £9.99 £8.99
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Award-winning former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo is an excellent storyteller and here he is at his best. Seen through the eyes of two children, he captures the greed of the wealthy, the abject poverty of the poor and the terrible grief of all when the Pied Piper leads away the children.
Retold in a simple and compelling style this is a lovely book to read aloud or alone. Emma Chichester Clark’s beautiful illustrations add delicate details to the text bringing it alive for all ages.
A beautiful edition of this classic retelling by master storyteller Michael Morpurgo, with glorious illustrations by Emma Chichester Clark.In the town of Hamelin, the rich and greedy live like kings and queens while the poor and sick scavenge rubbish tips for scraps. A lame orphan boy tells the classic tale of how a plague of rats takes over the town and how a fantastic piper offers to rid Hamelin of its rats for a single gold coin, then lures away the town's children when the greedy mayor breaks his word. Masterfully weaving contemporary social and environmental themes into a gripping tale, and celebrating it with breath-taking illustrations, former British Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo and illustrator Emma Chichester Clark team up to create a compelling new take on this timeless story.
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A beautiful edition of this classic retelling by master storyteller Michael Morpurgo, with glorious illustrations by Emma Chichester Clark. In the town of Hamelin, the rich and greedy live like kings and queens while the poor and sick scavenge rubbish tips for scraps. A lame orphan boy tells the classic tale of how a plague of rats takes over the town and how a fantastic piper offers to rid Hamelin of its rats for a single gold coin, then lures away the town's children when the greedy mayor breaks his word. Masterfully weaving contemporary social and environmental themes into a gripping tale, and celebrating it with breath-taking illustrations, former British Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo and illustrator Emma Chichester Clark team up to create a compelling new take on this timeless story.
'Morpurgo is such a gifted storyteller that he manages to deliver the underlying darkness of this old fable with contemporary relevance.. A book to pass through the generations.' Daily Mail
Michael Morpurgo began writing stories in the early '70's, in response to the children in his class at the primary school where he taught in Kent. His books have sold over 35 million copies worldwide in almost 40 languages to date. A former Children’s Laureate and current President of BookTrust, Michael was knighted in 2018 for services to literature and charity. He has won many prestigious awards including the Smarties Prize, the Writers Guide Award, the Whitbread Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Eleanor Farjeon Lifetime Achievement Award.
His novels have been adapted in a number of plays and films including War Horse directed by Stephen Spielberg (2011), Private Peaceful, Waiting for Anya and Kensuke's Kingdom (2023) which has been nominated for 'Best Feature Film' at the 2024 British Animation Awards
The National Theatre’s adaption of War Horse has been seen by over 10 million people in over 100 cities around the world, broke the West End record for weekly ticket sales and won 5 Tony Awards and 2 Olivier Awards The National Theatre's global phenomenon of War Horse is returning to UK theatres in September 2024.
A son and grandson of actors, Michael has acting in his blood and enjoys collaborating and performing live adaptations of his books at festivals, concerts and theatres.
Michael's books have been translated into many languages including Chinese, Bulgarian and Hungarian, Hebrew and Japanese. He travels all over the UK and abroad talking to people of all ages at literary festivals, telling his stories and encouraging them to tell theirs.
With his wife Clare, he set up the charity Farms for City Children, which offers children and teachers from inner-city primary schools the chance to live and work in the countryside for a week on one of the charity’s three farms in Devon, Gloucestershire and Wales. Over 100,000 children have visited the three farms run by the charity since it began in 1976. Teachers frequently comment that a child can learn more in a week on the farm than a year in the classroom.
For more information about the work of Farms for City Children, please visit www.farmsforcitychildren.org
Michael Morpurgo lives in Devon with his wife Clare.
Anthony Horowitz on Michael Morpurgo:
'Michael Morpurgo is the most solid, classical of children's authors. He sits outside the series-driven blockbusters so beloved of publishers nowadays: he hasn't created a Harry Potter or an Alex Rider – and I admire him for resisting that. We are opposite sides of the same coin and, although his work has never influenced mine, I admire the eloquent, considered voice of his best books. He has an unerring moral compass – his schoolteacher past has never quite left him – and books such as War Horse and The Butterfly Lion have a strong social concience and an honesty that makes them universal.' ( The Guardian)
In November 2016 Michael Morpurgo won the J M Barrie Award for his contribution to children’s literature. This award is given every year by Action for Children’s Arts to a “children’s arts practitioner” whose lifetime’s work has delighted children and will stand the test of time.
David Wood, chair of Action for Children’s Arts, said Morpurgo is “one of our greatest storytellers”. “Michael Morpurgo has thrilled and delighted huge numbers of young readers since becoming a children’s author in the early 1970s," Wood said. "Action for Children’s Arts is delighted to recognise Michael’s outstanding contribution by presenting him with the J M Barrie Award 2016. His work will undoubtedly, like Peter Pan, stand the test of time, making him a truly worthy recipient of this award."
Morpurgo added: “Storymakers and storytellers like Barrie, and like all the previous winners of this award, have given us the hope and faith children need, we need, to keep flying, have sustained us through dark and troubled times, have banished doubt. To touch the lives of children, to witness their listening and reading silence, is reward enough in itself. This is simply the icing on the cake.”
Take a peek at Michael's 10 Rules for Writing .
You can also read about his life in War Child to War Horse , a collaborative biography with Maggie Fergusson.
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A beautiful edition of this classic retelling by master storyteller Michael Morpurgo, with glorious illustrations by Emma Chichester Clark.In the town of Hamelin, the rich and greedy live like kings and queens while the poor and sick scavenge rubbish tips for scraps. A lame orphan boy tells the classic tale of how a plague of rats takes over the town and how a fantastic piper offers to rid Hamelin of its rats for a single gold coin, then lures away the town's children when the greedy mayor breaks his word.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed The Pied Piper of Hamelin and determined it is suitable for children aged 5-8 years old
The Pied Piper of Hamelin features in the following genres: Featured Books for 5+ readers, Recommendations, Traditional Tales, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Featured Books for 7+ readers
Paperback, Hardback. £8.99, down from the £9.99 cover price. In Stock.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin was written by Michael Morpurgo and published by Walker Books Ltd an imprint of Walker Books
The Pied Piper of Hamelin has 110 pages
£8.99, reduced from £9.99. In Stock.
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