Animal Stories

by Michael Morpurgo (Chosen By)

Inspired by classroom time and television programming devoted to wildlife, conservation, and environmental issues, today's children have a zest for the outdoors and an ardent appreciation of the creatures with which they share the planet. This collection offers a caliber of stories and extracts several notches above the expected fare in a compilation. The list of renowned contributors includes such luminaries as John Steinbeck (The Red Pony), Michael Morpurgo (Waiting for Anya), and Jack London (The Call of the Wild). With such stories as Rudyard Kipling's The Cat that Walked by Himself, through favorites such as Paul Gallico's The Snow Goose, and contemporary tales such as Ted Hughes' powerful Iron Woman, Animal Stories is a terrific introduction to classic literature and nature writing for children and young adults.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Childrens

222 pages, Hardcover

First published July 16, 1999

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

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a varied and thoroughly enjoyable collection of stories (or more accurately a collection of extracts from longer stories which you might be encouraged to read).

Although these are extracts, each of the stories is sufficiently complete to stand on its own.

Each chapter has a small introduction by Michael Morpurgo which gives a little more context.

[Elzbeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the variety of stories chosen for this anthology, from Noah’s arc to Darwin to fiction in between. The stories were simple and enjoyable

[Amy Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slay Oscar Wilde also all the stories were really meaningful and cute and I love the personified animals <3

[Joanne Eaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love animals so this book attracted me. What I liked was the 21 different stories were diverse and by popular authors. It's a book you can dip into at any time and anywhere. I loved it.

[Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great book because this book connects animals to humans and how they act the same but in different ways.This book contains mini stories inside of a big one. These mini stories talk about different animals. With every mini story there is a different author.It talks about people hurting animals and how they are saving them. Overall this book was a good book because it shows a lot of meaning and it is very descriptive

[Gala · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a gift from my grandmother, many years ago. She knew I love animals and reading, so this was a good choice for a present. I like the fact that each story has a different narrative style, and all of them reach to you somehow.

[Tori · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was mostly bored while reading this book;however, there were a few stories, like The Cat That Walks Alone that I did enjoy reading.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the book but needs more thrill to it and more details as well as length.

[Cws]

JF-Mor