What do you think?
Rate this book
Mr Skip
Believing in magic makes dreams come true… Jackie dreams of having a horse of her own, one that’ll be the fastest on the estate, the fastest in all Ireland and the fastest in the world. Mum dreams of a little cottage in the country for her and Jackie to live in. What they get is a garden gnome that Jackie finds in a rubbish skip; one she lovingly repairs and paints; a gnome she calls Mr Skip. And Jackie soon discovers that with Mr Skip, anything is possible. Michael Morpurgo's book 'There Once is a Queen' was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 06-06-2022.
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
11 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
December 4, 2013
Mr Skip
Set in Dublin where horses run wild in the fields near the tower blocks, Jackie watches the boys on the estate ride their horses and she longs to own her own horse. However, Jackie only has her Gran’s old donkey Barnaby. But things are set to change.
Rummaging in an old skip, Jackie finds a broken garden gnome. Feeling sorry for the gnome, who she had now named Mr Skip, she takes him home and carefully repairs him. To her astonishment Mr Skip speaks to her, and because she gave him a new lease of life, he’s going to make all her dreams come true…
This story, from the Author of War Horse - Michael Morpurgo, is another well-crafted children's story. Certainly more appealing to girls (in my experience) to read because of the lead character, this story is a wonderful modern uptake of a fairy tale. It’s good to see that this genre is still catered for and I liked the modern twists which gave the story child appeal.
Suitable for Year 5 children.
Set in Dublin where horses run wild in the fields near the tower blocks, Jackie watches the boys on the estate ride their horses and she longs to own her own horse. However, Jackie only has her Gran’s old donkey Barnaby. But things are set to change.
Rummaging in an old skip, Jackie finds a broken garden gnome. Feeling sorry for the gnome, who she had now named Mr Skip, she takes him home and carefully repairs him. To her astonishment Mr Skip speaks to her, and because she gave him a new lease of life, he’s going to make all her dreams come true…
This story, from the Author of War Horse - Michael Morpurgo, is another well-crafted children's story. Certainly more appealing to girls (in my experience) to read because of the lead character, this story is a wonderful modern uptake of a fairy tale. It’s good to see that this genre is still catered for and I liked the modern twists which gave the story child appeal.
Suitable for Year 5 children.
August 4, 2020
A sweet story
January 25, 2021
Really sweet story ..... and I love donkeys!!
April 29, 2019
A lovely storey to read to my son. Very good early on. I was somewhat disappointed by the ending; I quite like the fact that they don't win outright as life isn't always perfect, but I just felt it lacked a bit of depth or real interest - the ending was just a little too twee.
January 2, 2018
Magical thinking that really didn't add to the heroine's world view. Found this one disappointing.
February 7, 2018
Cool book
I absolutely love this book. So cool and exciting . I want a GNOME after Reading this book so .
I absolutely love this book. So cool and exciting . I want a GNOME after Reading this book so .
February 14, 2019
Easy and quick read. Michael Morpurgo this time spins the story around the magic of garden gnome and the donkey.
November 22, 2017
Mr Skip is a gnome who has been stuck together by a lass who rescued him from a skip on her estate. In reward, he brings magic to her life and generally improves her situation, but in an unexpected way. She further rewards him ... without spoilers, she makes him happy. This is another beautiful book by Michael Morpurgo: fun, easily accessible and easily read in a single session.
June 12, 2023
Whoever thought a garden gnome could be so influential? Morpurgo loves writing stories for children with animals in them. I thought this was decent enough- Morpurgo on an average day. Pretty tame but quite readable
January 1, 2019
Fantastic read
Mr skip is a wonderful family book. Well written that a young child is able to read from and enjoy
Mr skip is a wonderful family book. Well written that a young child is able to read from and enjoy
February 24, 2020
Very good!
August 2, 2020
What a fantastic book
September 16, 2020
obviously this book is perfect
November 12, 2021
Loved the narration of the audiobook! Made it fun to listen to.
February 15, 2022
Excellent
Read
November 21, 2022Book Club theme: Childhood Favourite 🐎🍄
December 2, 2022
I cried happy tears.
April 3, 2023
Again another childhood read, we love Michael Morpurgo 🫶
August 3, 2023
Was a cute highschool read
September 18, 2024
A wise short story that really makes you appreciate folklore, life's worth and valuing them both.
March 9, 2019
Read with my class. Was a quick short read but not great for Micheal Morpurgo. Could have been way better for the idea.
September 18, 2019
Love how they save things from the skip and fix them up
October 29, 2013
'Mr Skip', is a modern take of a fairy tale by the best selling author of War Horse, Michael Morpurgo.
Mr Skip tells the story of a little girl named Jackie who lives with her mother in a block of flats in Dublin. Jackie watched the boys in her estate ride horses every day and all she wanted to do was take part, but Jackie couldn't join in because she didn't have a horse, just her Nanny's stubborn donkey Barnabey.
Jackie used to rummage in the skip near her home as she enjoyed repairing peoples unwanted items and using them as presents for her family and friends, but one day Jackie came across a broken gnome, which she took a likening too. Little did Jackie know that this once unwanted gnome was magic and with some love and care from her, he would change her world for the good.
This book is an interesting read, it's not your typical fairytale, the use of imagination is a fantastic thing, children will enjoy the magic this book brings and how the girls dreams come true. I would recommend this book, its quirkiness and humour would suit children in Yr 5 and 6.
Mr Skip tells the story of a little girl named Jackie who lives with her mother in a block of flats in Dublin. Jackie watched the boys in her estate ride horses every day and all she wanted to do was take part, but Jackie couldn't join in because she didn't have a horse, just her Nanny's stubborn donkey Barnabey.
Jackie used to rummage in the skip near her home as she enjoyed repairing peoples unwanted items and using them as presents for her family and friends, but one day Jackie came across a broken gnome, which she took a likening too. Little did Jackie know that this once unwanted gnome was magic and with some love and care from her, he would change her world for the good.
This book is an interesting read, it's not your typical fairytale, the use of imagination is a fantastic thing, children will enjoy the magic this book brings and how the girls dreams come true. I would recommend this book, its quirkiness and humour would suit children in Yr 5 and 6.
June 30, 2022
Mr. Skip is a magical gnome that helps make dream's come true. While this was cute, it was sort of odd too and I can't quite put my finger on why I thought that. Her mom was present and not neglectful at all, which is sort of refreshing in a middle/young adult novel, and the magic seemed good too. This was good and I would recommend, just not a favorite.
6/30/22 update: decided to unhaul this for space on my shelf
6/30/22 update: decided to unhaul this for space on my shelf
August 17, 2008
A pleasing story about a girl who repairs an old garden gnome which turns out to be magic; he grants her a wish in return, but not in quite the way she expects. A quirky, funny little tale.
November 3, 2009
Girl fixes broken garden gnome and it comes to life and makes life grand. Very Brirish.
June 20, 2012
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 15, 2012
My favourite child-hood book!
xxx
xxx
January 6, 2013
I could read this book a thousand times
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews