Jets: Mum's the Word

Jets #43

by Michael Morpurgo, Shoo Rayner

Eggbert the goat is acting very peculiarly and he seems to be eating a lot more than usual. Farmer Raffety suspects he may be about to hear the patter of cloven feet. Readership level: 6 – 8 years.

Genres: Animals

64 pages, Hardcover

First published October 31, 1995

About the author

Sir Michael Andrew Morpurgo, OBE, FRSL is the author of many books for children, five of which have been made into films. He also writes his own screenplays and libretti for opera. Born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1943, he was evacuated to Cumberland during the last years of the Second World War, then returned to London, moving later to Essex. After a brief and unsuccessful spell in the army, he took up teaching and started to write. He left teaching after ten years in order to set up 'Farms for City Children' with his wife. They have three farms in Devon, Wales and Gloucestershire, open to inner city school children who come to stay and work with the animals. In 1999 this work was publicly recognised when he and his wife were invested a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to youth. In 2003, he was advanced to an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 2004. He was knighted in the 2018 for his services to literature and charity. He is also a father and grandfather, so children have always played a large part in his life. Every year he and his family spend time in the Scilly Isles, the setting for three of his books.

Reviews

[Pam_matharu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mum’s the word by Michael Morpurgo

When Eggbert the goat starts to act strange and consuming more food than normal, Farmer Rafferty expects that he is in for a lot more work. Eggbert starts to disappear and only arrive to eat carrots when Farmer Rafferty is away. When he goes missing again and everyone looks for him they find that he has 2 Kids which is the reason he has been taking so much food. With moments of humour this book is excellent for children between the ages of 5 to 8 years. This book has illustrations that are sure to capture the children and it would be a book used well in group reading with a chance to use good expression to capture the differences in characters from the Farmer to the Piglet.

[John Naylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good if not spectacular short story.
The set-up and story flow well with a bit of mystery thrown in. A child might well enjoy it.

I feel it might lead to questions that a parent might not want to answer. The motivation of the characters is unclear for the most part too. It just felt rushed in places.

It was a hard book to rate. The illustrations are great for the story. I just felt the story could have used another four pages minimum.

[Abbey]

A sweet book you would read at bed time when your a little kid

[Asha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the other Mudpuddle stories.

[Krisz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little book with lots of interesting illustration, the end twist is funny, even if the grown-up reader guesses it sooner :)