By Michael Morpurgo (author) , Faye Hanson (illustrator) Part of the Little Gems series
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One of our Dyslexia Friendly Books of the Year 2013 - Interest Age 5-8 A wonderful adventure which captures the importance of children finding a place of their own – and having secrets! When three children shelter in the rain in a pill-box abandoned after World War Two they decide to take it over as a secret camp.
It belongs to the local farmer and they have to be very careful to keep right out of his way! Setting it up, enjoying their own space and not getting caught provide all the excitement they need but things get almost too dangerous when other boys discover their secret and try to spoil it.
Particularly suitable for 5-8s with a reading age of 6.
Michael Morpurgo adapted The Castle in the Field especially for the Little Gems series from his first collections of stories to be published called It Never Rained. Have a look at his other Little Gem title, Snug .
In addition to our Lovereading expert opinion for The Castle in the Field a small number of children were lucky enough to be invited to review this title. Here's a taster.... ' I would recommend this story to other children around my age who find reading tricky. ' - Toby Goodall.
Scroll down to read the full review...
Chris, Lisa and Tom spend their days in their secret hide-out in the Castle, an old WWII pill-box. But the Castle is on Old Rafferty's land, and he hates kids. They find themselves in big trouble when some local lads lock them in and there is no one around for miles...
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About the Little Gems series: Little Gems are in a gorgeous new chunky format, with high-spec production including coloured endpapers and jacketed flaps with activities. Additional features include high quality cream paper, Barrington Stoke font and illustrations on every page. They are perfect for 5-8's. These quality stories promote good reading practice for all newly independent readers.
Kids love to read and a small number of children were lucky enough to be invited to review The Castle in the Field . The review below was written by Toby Goodall, age 8.
The main characters: Chris, Tom and Lisa have great adventures when they discover the old 'castle' which is really an old abandoned World War II pillbox. They get to be free here and have fun times together, telling stories, playing games and setting up a little hideout for themselves. Their happiness is brought to an end by some local bullies and they are not allowed to go back to the 'castle' ever again. I wasn't sure about this story to start with as I'm not that fond of reading as I find it hard. But, my Mum read this with me and I did find the story really good. I think the illustrations are great as they set a good atmosphere and really help you to imagine the characters and the story even more. It is good to have pictures with a story, especially if you find looking at pages of words off putting. I like that the stories are grown up enough for me but not too difficult. I would recommend this story to other children around my age who find reading tricky. Younger children who are good readers would also find this story brilliant. I would like to read some more Little Gems books.
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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Chris, Lisa and Tom spend their days in their secret hide-out in the Castle, an old WWII pill-box. But the Castle is on Old Rafferty's land, and he hates kids.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed The Castle in the Field and determined it is suitable for children aged 5-8 years old
The Castle in the Field features in the following genres: Books Reviewed by our Reader Review Panels, Recommendations, Featured Books for 7+ readers, Adventure Stories, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Featured Books for 5+ readers
Paperback. £6.29, down from the £6.99 cover price. In Stock.
The Castle in the Field was written by Michael Morpurgo and published by Barrington Stoke Ltd
The Castle in the Field has 76 pages
Yes it is part of Little Gems series
£6.29, reduced from £6.99. In Stock.
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