1. Book summary

2. Adaptations

3. References

4. External links

Kensuke's Kingdom is a children's novel by Michael Morpurgo, illustrated by Michael Foreman. It was first published in 1999^[1] by Egmont UK. Since then, many more editions have been released by various other publishers, such as Scholastic.^[2].

Book summary

A young boy called Michael is traveling with his parents around the world on the yacht Peggy Sue, after his parents lost their jobs at the brickworks and decided to sail the seven seas. Michael's parents teach him what he would have normally learned at school and he has a log where he writes about his experiences. They travel from England to Africa, South America and Australia.

One night Michael was on the lookout with his sheepdog, Stella Artois, when a storm throw them overboard. They awake on an island near Australia populated by friendly orangutans and gibbons. After finding food being regularly left for him, Michael meets an elderly Japanese man called Kensuke, who's also living on the island, which he considers his private kingdom. He was the one who rescued Michael from the storm and helps him survive.

Michael teaches Kensuke English, and Kensuke teaches Michael how to paint, how to fish with a spear and where to find the best food (such as red bananas) and water. He is eventually revealed to be a doctor and survivor of World War II. Kensuke believes that his family, including his wife Kimi and son Michaya, died in Nagasaki after the atomic bomb was dropped there on 9 August 1945. Over time Kensuke begins to understand how Michael feels and how he misses his family. Together they build a beacon that can be lit to signal to ships, but for a long time they see no sign of any ships. Eventually, however, Michael finds the remains of a ship. He consults with Kensuke as to whether or not they should light the beacon. Kensuke recognises the ship carries American poachers, so he and Michael rush to gather all the apes into a cave, to protect them from the threat. They nearly succeed but cannot find one particular orangutan, the one Kensuke calls Kikanbo. The poachers disembark and they hear gunshots. When the ship leaves, they discover that some gibbons have been killed, but Kikanbo had survived.

The next ship they sight is not the poachers', so they light the beacon. The crew on the ship see the fire and heads towards the island. When the boat is closer, Michael sees that it's the Peggy Sue, with his parents on board. However, Kensuke decides not to go home with Michael after all, saying "This is my place. This Kensuke's Kingdom. Emperor must stay in his Kingdom, look after his people. Emperor does not run away. Not honourable thing to do."

Kensuke asks Michael to keep his presence on the island a secret for ten years, after which Kensuke will probably be dead. Michael is reunited with his parents. In the epilogue, it's revealed that four years later, Kensuke's son Michaya, who had survived the Nagasaki bombi, wrote to Michael asking to meet him to talk about Kensuke. Michael notes that Michaya laughs just like his father.

Adaptations

In August 2018, WildChild Productions will be taking a theatrical adaptation of Kensuke's Kingdom by Stuart Paterson to Edinburgh Festival Fringe.^[3] It will feature a voiceover by Jenny Agutter.

References

External links

• Official page at michaelmorpurgo.com
• Reading matters page

• 1-800-MY-APPLE
• 1-800-OOPS-JEW
• 1-800-Pitshop.com 300
• 1800 - Reverse
• 1800REVERSE
• 1800 Reverse
• 1800 Scenario
• 1800s in Wales
• 1-800-the-info
• 1800 United States Census
• 1800–09 Atlantic hurricane seasons
• 1801, Concordat of
• 1801, Concordat of 1801
• 1801 English cricket season
• 1801 Hollis Street
• 1801 in art
• 1801 in Australia
• 1801 in Ireland
• 1801 in New Zealand
• 1801 in poetry
• 1801 in the UK
• 1801 in the United Kingdom
• 1801 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
• 18024 Dobson
• 1802 BC