Book Champion: Mattia

Mattia is seven years old and lives in London. He speaks English, Cantonese and Italian and his favourite book is Twist of Gold by Michael Morpurgo.

Baker Smith: Can you tell us what the book is about?
Mattia: It’s about these two children and their mum and there’s a potato famine in Ireland where they live and their dying mum has to stay behind. Then they travel to America on a boat and life is really hard and loads of people want to help and two of them die trying to help them.
BS: What’s a potato famine?
M: It’s when there’s not much food around.
BS: So they decided moving to America was a better option?
M: Yes.
BS: Tell us more about what happens when they arrive in America?
M: They can’t find the house that their Dad made for them because he went before they went. Then finally they go to this woman and she knew where their Dad’s house was and she told them it’s got the biggest chimney of all. So they were able to find the house.
BS: Did they all live together in the house after that?
M: Yes. But the dog who went with the Dad died two weeks before the children came.
BS: Oh, it sounds like a bit of a sad story? Did it make you cry?
M: No! Except the last bit. It was a hard life.
BS: How long ago was the story set?
M: It’s just a story, it’s not something real.
BS: Do you have a favourite character in the book?
M: Well not really. Because there’s hardly any characters in the book. There’s only two main characters.
BS: Do you remember their names?
M: Sean and Annie.
BS: They sound like very Irish names.
M: Yes, they’re Irish.
BS: Do you think you’d like to go on a boat from Ireland to America?
M: No way! They hardly had any food or water.
BS: Sounds very hard. Would you prefer to fly in a plane from Ireland to America.
M: Yes!
BS: And would you recommend this book to other children to read?
M: Yes. I think about 9-10 years old kids should read it.
BS: Sounds like a long book. How many pages does it have?
M: 300 pages.
BS: 300 pages! That’s phenomenal. Well done.

Book Champion: Bailey

Bailey was our very first Book Champion. Now he is eleven years old, in grade 6, and spoke to us about a new favourite book, War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

Can you tell us what the story of War Horse is about?
The story of War Horse is about Albert Narracott and a horse named Joey. The book is set in the horse’s perspective, not in Albert’s perspective. Joey tells you his life, as if you were him. Albert’s father sells Joey to the cavalry to be ridden by Lieutenant Nicholls, who ends up getting killed in action. Then Joey ends up going to the Germans and being looked after Captain Friedrich Muller. Joey runs away after an attack by British, but ends up in no-mans land. The Germans and British wave the white flag, while they cut the barbed wire attached to Joey, then they toss a coin to see how keeps him. The British won the coin toss. They take Joey back to Devon, England and Albert Narracott buys Joey back.

What do you like most about the story?
It’s really good that it has been written in a horse’s perspective because most books are usually written from a human’s perspective. It was interesting to see what the life of a horse was like and what they went through in WW1.

There was a very strong relationship between Albert and Joey.
Could you understand the connection between a boy and a horse?
Yes, because I think everyone that has a horse always has a strong connection with it. It’s the same with anyone and their pet (even though Joey wasn’t really a pet). Albert goes to the war, not to fight, just to try and find Joey. I think this really shows how strong their connection was.

Did you find the story sad or scary at times?
I think it was sort of sad half way through when you didn’t really know what was going to happen. Then again at the end, because you think Joey is going to die.

Did you think the horses were brave during the war?
Yes very brave, especially in this book. The way the horses break through barbed wire to try and help the people that ride them is unbelievable.

Which did you like best: the book, the play or the movie?
I read the book first. I loved the book most definitely! I always think the book is best because it has so much detail that movies and plays just can’t add.

How different was the play or the movie from what you’d  imagined in you head?
I imagined the movie to be very similar, but there were a few bits that were like tearing out pages of the book and re-writing them again. The play was really really similar. Very little was different from the book.

What other Michael Morpurgo books would you recommend?
Butterfly Lion – A great book to read!

Caspar, the Prince of Cats – Great if you are into the Titanic

Alone on a Wide Wide Sea – Great book if you are interested in reading about a little boy being fostered to family in Australia

Toro Toro – Good if you are interested about the Wars in Spain

Farm Boy – If you loved War Horse, this is the sequel – you will love it! Great book!

Running Wild – This is an absolutely fantastic book! About the tsunami in Indonesia.

Little Manfred – Great story about friendship

This Morning I Met a Whale – A good short read.