Minikid

by Michael Morpurgo, Faye Hanson (Illustrator)

Minikid is from the city and is new to farm life. Chris and Lisa can barely keep him under control, as he causes havoc wherever he goes. The trouble begins when Minikid finds a wasp's nest and goes downhill from there...

A charming Little Gem from specialist publisher Barrington Stoke.

76 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

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

[Nic]

I picked this book up as an example of the "dyslexia-friendly" Little Gems series to study. As it was by Michael Morpurgo, I'll be honest, I had higher expectations. After seeing the 2025 study on the declining rates of enjoyment in reading reported by children, I've also been looking more closely at the content of books and the subtle messages we are sending children. Honestly, this one appalled me when you read between the lines.

The book starts by introducing "Minikid" as the cousin of the narrator. A brilliant test for your child or indeed anyone reading this is can they answer the question "what is the cousin's name?" Spoiler: it's on the first page and the child's name is Billy but everywhere else he is referred to as "menace" or "Minikid".

The cousin is introduced as being left with his aunt, uncle and cousins for the summer as his parents are having some unnamed problems suggesting the potential of a divorce or other major troubles at home. Is it any wonder the child acts out? We have probably all known children that are difficult to get on with, angry or act out with challenging behaviours but at no point is there any empathy for Billy. Even the comic book "Dennis the Menace" humanises him by using his name, Dennis. Here Morpurgo henceforth never uses the boy's name again which arguably would be a form of bullying to a child left alone.

Call me daft but I don't see the moral Morpurgo was trying to show children here? I do not object to teaching children the realities of farming life but instead of focusing on the lack of transparency of the parents (Billy possibly being the only one seeing through their pretence) the narrator talks of "murdering mozzies and gnats in their thousands" and is the one who suggests burning the wasps' nest and then almost revels in the fact the cousin was stung in the attempt to do so. From Billy's perspective, perhaps he was just trying to fit in, be seen as brave and respected by this cousin who accused his older brother of being a coward for wanting to defer to an adult.

The text describes Billy as wanting to help feed the calf, even if he isn't skilled (having grown up in the city) but the illustrations show him being mean to the calf to reinforce the sense this child is... evil?

The language is relatively sophisticated for a child's "easy reader" with fragments like "we heard a cow bellow in the shed by the Dutch barn". I'm not arguing these words aren't readable but without an illustration how many adults, let alone children not raised in the country, know what a Dutch barn looks like? If the story is "enhanced and supported" by illustrations of Billy acting out, why not help children who haven't had the opportunity to experience the countryside imagine more vividly what that looks like?

Despite the children saving the bull calf, the parents send it to be slaughtered. This is a reality of living on a farm but the ending is equally brutal with zero compassion for their bull-in-a-china-shop cousin leaving, only a statement that they are glad to be see the back of him. Is this the sort of thing we want to teach children? That they should have compassion for livestock but not other human beings?

[Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really disappointed by this story and expected more from Morpurgo quite honestly. I feel it lacks an ending and clarity. It seems as though minikid is a child who is experimenting and potentially could be going through a really rough time and although at times his actions are inappropriate and rude it feels as though Morpurgo builds the character up and instead of getting guidance from the people he is living with he is blamed and goes home; never to be spoken to by the children who were looking after him again. I am not completely sure what the point of the book is and the theme/ moral of the story seems to be if someone acts inappropriately you turn your back on them and that although there were consequences to his actions he is then outcast for his behaviour. Not completely sure this is teaching children to understand and forgive. There was also the theme of animal cruelty but that seemed a background problem.Or not to eat animals and that is you make wasps angry they sting you? Seems negative and disjointed. I would like to have known why minikid was not with his parents and what happened to him once he went home. Did he ever learn from his mistakes?

[Katie & Alfie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a boy who is a bit mean and rude. A nice story with a bit of sad. AJH

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good up until the ending. It felt like the author rushed the ending. I would not recommend this book to somebody who values good conclusions. If you don't really care about conclusions then this is the book for you. I liked best about this book was how the characters expressed their feelings. It grabbed my interest and added expression to the book.

[Zayneea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very much wanted to like this story, but overall it ended up being terrible. Started off very well, but the ending was horrible and such a let down. I won't say what happens in case you do want to read it yourself, but I do think that reading this story was a waste of time.

[The Styling Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Minikid by Michael Morpurgo – 2nd grade and up – Little Gems/Barrington Stoke – Loved reading this story about a cousin coming to live at a house and the problems that occur with the trouble that follows him. This felt like a continuation for the book Snug.

[cosy_reading_corner · Rating 1 out of 5]

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