Kensuke's Kingdom

Kensuke's Kingdom is a children's novel by Michael Morpurgo, illustrated by Michael Foreman. It was first published in 1999 by Egmont UK. Since then, it has been released by various other publishers, such as Scholastic. Book summary Kensuke's Kingdom tells the story of an eleven-year old boy named Michael, whose family decides to sail around the world after his parents are made redundant from the local brickworks. The family set off with their dog, Stella Artois, in Southampton. Initially their voyage goes well and Michael's family visit several exciting locations, including Brazil, South Africa and Australia, where they stay with Michael’s distant uncle, Uncle John. After leaving Australia however, the weather becomes perilous, and their yacht is damaged. Michael's mum is also sick with severe stomach cramps. On one deceptively calm night, Stella Artois appears on deck, and given that she had previously fallen overboard in the Indian Ocean, Michael tries to retrieve her. A sudden wind takes hold of the yacht, and both Michael and Stella are washed overboard. Alone and clinging to a football for buoyancy, Michael is convinced he will drown. Yet the next morning he finds himself on the shore of a peanut-shaped island with Stella, both alive and well. Questions as to how he came to be on the island are soon replaced by how they are to survive, and despite a thorough search of their new home, Michael and Stella are unable to find any food or fresh water. They are saved once again however, when they find that someone (or something) has left them water and food near the cave where they are sheltering. After failing to locate their mysterious benefactor, Michael decides to build a fire, in order to stay warm, keep mosquitoes away and potentially signal his whereabouts to passing ships. It is during this initial lighting of his fire that Michael finally meets the man who has been providing him food and water - Kensuke.