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Farm Boy
www.michaelmorpurgo.com/ morpurgomonth
In the story, Grandpa tells his grandson his secret – that he never learnt to read and write: ‘Trouble was that when I left school, I forgot even the little learning I had learnt. No cause to practise much, see? Then, like I say, your grandmother comes along, and she can read and write well enough for both of us. So I never bothered with it after that, until she told me I wasn’t a turnip-head at all, and how she’d teach me. But we left it too late, didn’t we?’ He sighed and sat back in his chair. ‘So? Will you do it? Will you teach me like she did?’ Once he learns to read and write, the first thing he does is write a story for his grandson. It begins like this: ‘When I was a littleun Mayday up in Iddesleigh village was always the best day of the year. There was the march around the village behind the Hatherleigh Silver Band all the menfolk following the Friendly Society banner blue ribbons on their jackets and Father standing a head higher than any of the others. There were swing boats up around the village green and a carousel and pasties and toffee apples and lemonade and then in the afternoon we had games down on West Park Farm. Writing challenge Finish Grandpa’s story, explaining what happened next using your imagination. Morpurgo masterclass Just like Michael Morpurgo, you could try capturing Grandpa’s voice by: - writing in the first person (we went… then I saw) - using contractions (didn’t, couldn’t) - using informal language to show Grandpa’s voice (littleun, never bothered, turnip-head)
Stuck for ideas?
What happens in the story is up to you, but remember it has to begin on Mayday at the village fair in Iddesleigh, Devon. Try to think about what might happen there…
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Farm Boy Continue writing here...