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Kensuke’s Kingdom

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Kensuke’s Kingdom

By: Michael Morpurgo
Narrated by: Derek Jacobi
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About this listen

A desert-island adventure, and a subtle observation of friendship, trust and humanity.

Winner of The Children’s Book Award.

Superbly read by DEREK JACOBI.

When Michael is washed up on an island in the Pacific after falling from his parents’ yacht, he struggles to survive on his own. He can’t find food and he can’t find water, and as Michael and his dog curl up to sleep, he knows they cannot last long.

But he soon realises there is someone close by, someone who is watching over him and helping him to stay alive. Following a close-run battle between life and death, the mysterious stranger – Kensuke – allows Michael into his world and they become friends, teaching and learning from each other, until the day of separation becomes inevitable.

©2011 HarperCollins Publishers Limited (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Action & Adventure Classics Growing Up & Facts of Life Literature & Fiction Mystery & Suspense Thrillers & Suspense Heartfelt

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Critic reviews

"This is a wonderful book, a modern day Robinson Crusoe and is simply too good to miss." (Wendy Cooling)

What listeners say about Kensuke’s Kingdom

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fantastic

Old childhood book brought back to life! will be reading this to my family forever

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3 people found this helpful

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Great story line

Great story , easy to finish in a couple nights , great narrator , good

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A beautiful story

A gentle story, full of interesting details and superbly read by Derek Jacobi. A good book for children of any age between about 8 and 105!

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Amazing!

I remember this book from my childhood and to this day it is still one of the best books I have ever read.

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Beautifully written

Derek Jacobi is the perfect narrator. Michael Morpugo is the master storyteller. I get it why children and adults alike enjoy his books. This book is a lesson in love, discipline, respect and perseverance. Humans can be as beautiful as they can be horrible. People like Kensuke and Michael should be bottled up (not literally :-) ) and used as an example of how we should treat each other.

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Beautiful story

This is such a wonderful story. It's the first book I've heard on Audible. I read and listened to this book when I was a child, and listening to it again evoked nostalgic memories of my childhood. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. Derek Jacobi did a wonderful job narrating this story he really does bring it to life.

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Wonderful book

Where does Kensuke’s Kingdom rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

it is a superb book. Loved every minute of it.

What did you like best about this story?

Engaging at every point

What about Derek Jacobi’s performance did you like?

Really excellent, great voice to listen to and varied in pace, tone and characters

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

We usually listen on the school run, but you could listen in one go.

Any additional comments?

Read it, listen to it. Great stuff.

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loved it

great book that's a pleasure to read. read while running and had tear in my eye at ending.

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Beautiful short story

Such a moving story and whole thing took a few hours on 1.5 speed
Narrator is good without being over the top theatrical
Cried like a baby at the end

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a short review

loved it truely heartwarming, wonderful performance by Derek something that listening to again after so many years

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4 people found this helpful