Toro! Toro! Award-winning author by Michael Morpurgo (author) (UK edition)

A stirring tale of war, courage and the bullfight, set in Andalucia during the Spanish Civil War. Horrified to learn that the corrida involves not just a dance, but a death, six-year-old farm child Antonito vows to save his beloved bull Paco from such a bloody fate. But when he sneaks out to free Paco and the rest of his father’s herd early one morning, he becomes a witness to the bombing of his village by Franco’s forces, and the massacre of its surviving inhabitants. With his innocence devastated, how will Antonito recover from what he has seen? Surprising, powerful and moving, this is an unforgettable portrait of violence and recovery, examined through the bond between a boy and a bull. Another must-read from a master writer, illustrated with Michael Foreman’s fabulous artwork.

Product Details

Format

Paperback

ISBN

9780007107186

Lexile measure

800L

Accelerated Reader

AR book level: 5.0; Middle years; 2.0 points

Other details

128 pages

Condition

New

UK edition

Author/Illustrator

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.”