Michael Morpurgo Month 2022 - Book Discussion Guide

Discussion Guide What Did You Think?

In the classroom or at home, a vital part of great English lessons is both reading books and talking about them.

Six books have been selected for the Michael Morpurgo Month Book Club for 2022 – from farmyard fun for younger readers to historical adventures for older fans, each of these books will take readers on a different kind of adventure.

When you’ve chosen your book, and read it, why not talk about it together and see how different people responded to it.

Use the questions here as prompts to get going.

Which one(s) will you read?

Here are the six books in the Book Club for Michael Morpurgo Month 2022. If you’re not sure which one to choose, you can find free extracts and audio book readings at www.michaelmorpurgo.com/ morpurgomonth to help you make your selection.

Win a Money-can't-buy Prize!

When you’ve finished your chosen book, don’t forget to write a review and share your thoughts with others.

You can find a review template to help you out, and all the details to enter your completed review at www. michaelmorpurgo.com/morurgomonth. One lucky winner will receive an amazing LIVE virtual event with Michael Morpurgo himself for their school!

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• Michael Morpurgo sometimes writes about real events that happened in the past, like The Second World War. Is this story set during a historical event? If so, what did it teach you about that time?

• Is this the first book by Michael Morpurgo that you have read? If you have read any others, can you think of ways that they are similar to this one?

• Where does this story take place? Would you like to live there?

• What words has Michael Morpurgo used to show that a character is happy/sad/ frustrated/lonely etc?

• Were there any words in the book that you didn't understand? How could you find out their meaning?

• Think about the characters in the story. Do any of them remind you of any people that you know in real life? In what ways are they similar?

• Michael Morpurgo often uses things that have happened in real-life as inspiration for the events in his stories. Do you recognise anything from the story that has happened in your life?

• If you could meet any of the characters from the story, who would it be and why?

• Think about the title of your chosen book.

What clues does it give you about the story?

• If you had to write a sequel to this story, what do you predict would happen to the main character(s) in the future?

• Why do you think Michael Morpurgo chose to write about this specific topic?

• What word would best describe the main character? Find evidence from the story to support your answer.

Discuss Authorial Choices

• What words and phrases are used to add tension and atmosphere to certain parts of the story?

• What synonyms for said are used in the story and what effect do they give?

• Would you recommend this book to others? Who do you think would enjoy it and why?

• Using less than 50 words, could you write a new blurb for this book.

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Summarise

• What is the main message of the story?

Have you learnt anything from the book?

Infer

Predict

Explain Vocabulary

• Think about how the story ended. Was it a surprise or did you expect it?

• What was the most thought- provoking moment of the story and why?

Compare and Contrast

Retrieve

Book Discussion Questions