Conker

by Michael Morpurgo, Petra Brown (Illustrator)

When Stevie Rooster is mean about Nick's old dog dying, Nick throws Stevie's best conker into the pond. But Grandma says there's a better way to get back at Stevie—become Conker King of Jubilee Park. In order to do that, Nick must use some conkers from the tree in the old scrapyard. And in that scrapyard is a skinny, starving dog who looks like Nick's old dog. Can Nick rescue the dog and become conker champion? A moving story about grief, redemption, and the love of a family pet. Fresh, new, appealing illustrations for a classic Morpurgo story about the relationship between a boy and a dog.

Genres: Childrens, Animals

48 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 1987

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

[Klare · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely story for younger children

[Lauren Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book as a child, I read it at school, I think it was an earlier copy from the fantastic Banana Books range, small sized hardback books from a variety of authors.

It's an incredibly moving story and one of my favourite Michael Morpurgo.

[m · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book when I was a kid and liked it enough to think about it randomly ten years after the fact. All I could remember was "conkers" and I still spent twenty minutes Googling for this book so I assume it's worthy of a 4/5 stars.

[Amy Higgs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book follows a young boy called Nick and his quest to become the Conker King at Jubilee Park. Nick lost his beloved pet dog 'Old Station' and is soon reminded of him when he comes across a starving abandoned dog. Can Nick save him and become the Conker King?

I have recently finished reading this book with my Year 3 guided reading group. Morpurgo uses humour well when discussing the old dog, which the children found hilarious. The story is short and fast paced, perfect for guided reading sessions as there are also lots of opportunities for good questioning. The only negative is that the illustrations appeared a little dated to the children, although this is pat of it's charm, in my opinion!

[Em · Rating 3 out of 5]

My daughters school book this weekend and I read it so I could "discuss" it with her ie. make sure she did actually read it!

I thought it was good, although it seemed a little dated somehow - perhaps just because there are so many kids books around which are vibrantly illustrated with unusual fonts etc. and this is a more traditional story about a boy and his dog.

I thought 3 stars, my daughter says 5 so I've split the difference and gone for 4!