Morpurgo’s Heroes: An Eagle in the Snow

Esther and William are at a wonderful age

They have discovered the joy of books

Real books

They have discovered the magic of reading

Chapter after chapter

They love the thrill and suspense

Of a cliff hanger

They empathise with characters

Relate fictional story lines to their own

The three of us would snuggle up and read a day away

If we could

We have read so many books recently

And loved them all

At the moment we are reading

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

In the car we are listening to Charlie and The Great Glass Elevator

We have recently read

Michael Morpurgo’s An Eagle in the Snow

And next we will be reading

Why The Whales Came

We have the bug

They have caught the reading bug

And I am so glad that they are able to read so much with me

What memories we are making with our books!

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An Eagle in the Snow

Is a classic Michael Morpurgo story

Historical fiction at it’s best

Set in 1940

Coventry has been blitzed

An air raid warden

Tells a story to a young boy

Escaping the city with his mum

The story within the story

Is set in the First World War

It tells the story of a brave young soldier

A brave young soldier

Who could have stopped World War Two

Before it ever began

Book Synopsis:
1940. Barney and his mother, their home destroyed by bombing, are travelling to the country
when their train is forced to shelter in a tunnel from attacking German planes. There, in the
darkness, a stranger on the train begins to tell them a story. A story about Bobby Byron, the
most decorated soldier of WW1, who once had the chance to end the war before it even began,
and how he tried to fix his mistake. But sometimes the right thing is hard to see – and even
harder to live with…

The book is recommended from age 9

But Esther and William age 7

Both loved it

The story works well as a read-a-loud

And the chapters end in such a way

That you always have questions

Racing through your mind

And you are always left wanting more

This and The Butterfly Lion

Inspired William to read information books

About the world wars

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We have watched some BBC Schools programmes

To learn about what life was like for soldiers

And for women and children during the wars

We have also been reading some beautiful picture books

Linked to poppies, Flanders and Remembrance Day

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I think this is going to be one of those things

I always remember about my children’s childhood

When we shared the stories of Morpurgo’s heroes

mm heroes

An Eagle in the Snow

Deals with moral dilemmas

And there is a fantastic teaching resource available

To guide discussion with your children

About dilemmas and decisions

A framework for debating some of the key points of the story

We are going to be exploring the resource tomorrow

And sharing some of our discussions with you

This is a story about war

This is a story about heroism

This is a story of love and bravery

Of fear

This is a ‘what if’ story

And it had us all hooked

On the would have, could have, should haves

An Eagle in the Snow is a must read

For anyone who loves Michael Morpurgo as much as we do

If you would like to buy the book

It is available in all good book shops

And

You can try to win a signed copy right here

William’s top aim in life at the moment

Is to win such a book for himself

No pressure mummy!

Michael Morpurgo is a hero of mine

For writing such wonderful stories

That bring history to life

In ways that enable our children to gain some understanding

Of the sacrifices made

By those who fought for our country

And those who were left behind

Michael Morpurgo’s heroes have inspired my children to read and learn

To try to empathise

To want to know more and do more

To carry stories of war heroes forward

Just as the children do in this book

And The Butterfly Lion

Lest we forget

Lest we forget

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UK ENTRANTS ONLY PLEASE

We were given a copy of the book for the purpose of this review

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