Billy the Kid Award-winning author by Michael Morpurgo (author)

A heart-stopping tale of football and war from one of the world’s finest children’s writers. The only thing Billy ever wanted was to play football! He was faster and better on the ball than kids twice his age. His dream came true when he was picked to play for Chelsea, and became a champion soccer star. But that was in 1939, the year the Second World War began… and Billy’s life, like so many others, changed forever. Billy’s no kid now – he’s eighty. But he’s got memories, such memories. Can he use them to turn another boy with a passion for football into a Chelsea champ?

“A thrilling and moving story about a Chelsea footballer who gets caught up in the ravages of the Second World War… Foreman’s shimmering watercolours and line, so agile and expressive, are a perfect match for Morpurgo’s assured and memorable narrative.” TES

“Told with all the author’s open-hearted clarity, and richly illustrated by Michael Foreman.” Guardian

Product Details

Format

Paperback

ISBN

9780007105472

Publisher

HarperCollins Children's Books

Date published

January 1st, 2002

Lexile measure

780L

Accelerated Reader

AR book level: 4.7; Middle years; 2.0 points

Other details

128 pages

Condition

New

Author/Illustrator

Michael Morpurgo

Michael Morpurgo is a master storyteller, weaving captivating stories full of drama and intensity that are coming to be regarded as true classics. Exploring the most profound subjects with a light yet powerful touch, his books tell unforgettable stories in simple, direct words.

Michael Morpurgo discovered his talent for writing while working as a teacher. “We had to read the children a story every day and my lot were bored by the book I was reading. I decided I had to do something and told them the kind of story I used to tell my kids – it was like a soap opera, and they focused on it. I could see there was magic in it for them, and realised there was magic in it for me.”

Living in Devon, listening to Mozart, and working with children have provided most of the stimulae Michael needs to discover and write his stories. He spends about half his life mucking out sheds with the children, feeding sheep or milking cows; the other half he spends dreaming up and writing stories. “For me, the greater part of writing is daydreaming, dreaming the dream of my story until it hatches out – the writing down of it I always find hard. But I love finishing it, then holding the book in my hand and sharing my dream with my readers.”