Billy the Kid

Suitable for 7 – 11 years

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Product description

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

Photo of 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.”

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What kids think

  1. onecoolcookie578
    on 16 March 2014

    this is a really sad book but it is brilliant if you like books about the war if you you haven’t read it then you should

    5 out of 5

  2. AngelofDeath
    on 9 March 2014

    A touching story, but there was too much detail.

  3. Spidergirl
    on 5 March 2014

    it fun and joyful and we got to learn about this in school for english

    4 out of 5

  4. Nashdasher
    on 9 March 2013

    A sad funny action packed story great

  5. Sherlock25
    on 6 March 2013

    More of a boys story but still sad

  6. dashernasher
    on 6 March 2012

    it’s a good short action packed book.

    5 out of 5

  7. monkey00
    on 1 March 2012

    I loved this short action packed book

  8. booksrcul
    on 29 January 2012

    Cool! I never knew about football in the World Wars. It is a very mixed emotion book.

    4 out of 5

  9. loi77
    on 19 December 2011

    Amazing, sad and beautiful, funny too. Its amazing how many stories Michael could fit in one small book!

    5 out of 5

  10. pikachu8
    on 22 December 2010

    it was ok but i expected more

    3 out of 5

  11. xBaTMaNx
    on 15 September 2010

    I’ve Read this book at school it was okay but on the whole I WOULD SAY “NOT FOR ME”

    3 out of 5