Name: __________________________ No.

____ Date/Day
___________________________

Kensukes Kingdom WITH ANSWERS

by Michael Morpurgo

Chapter One Peggy Sue

A. COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
Page 1
When and how old was Michael when he disappeared?
He was eleven.
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Why did it take him a long time to tell the world about what happened?
Kensuke made him promise to say nothing at all for at least ten years
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Page 2
Why has Michael finally decided to tell all about what happened? Hes
had time to think, had gone to college, and he didnt want to tell lies any
more. He also wanted the world to know about Kensuke.
________________________________________________________________________
Who lived in his house before his disappearance? His father, mother, and
his dog, Stella
Artois.___________________________________________________________________
_
What signalled the end of Michaels normal life?
_The arrival of the letter about the closing of the Brickhouse.

Why? (Answer this question after reading the entire chapter.)

The letter changed his life and his familys. They went on an adventure,
sailing on a yatch.
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Page2-4
What was his early life like? Write what he did -

every morning:

- went to school

after school:

- played football with his friends.

every weekend:
- did the paper round at Mr. Patels shop

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Why were Sundays special? He would go dinghy- sailing with his family
in the reservoir.
 __________________________________________________________________________
Who were the Mudlarks and why were they not so good when playing
away from home?
Michaels football team was called the Mudlarks. They were used to
playing in their towns recreation ground that was muddy.

What is the meaning of doing the paper round? Why was Michael doing
this job?
It means to deliver newspapers in the neighbourhood. Michael wanted to
save money for a mountain bike.
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Who was Stella Artois? Describe Stella Artois. Stella Artois was
Michaels dog, a one-ear-up and one-ear-down black and white sheepdog,
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Page 4
Where did his parents work? At the Brickworks.
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Why did they like sailing so much? The air was clear and clean.
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What sort of weather stopped them sailing? No kind of weather stopped
them sailing. They would always sail no matter what the weather was
like.
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What was he better at than his parents? Fishing.
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Why did Stella find fishing so boring? She had no one to bark at.
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Page 5
What was the letter about? The Brickworks where his parents work was
closing down.
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What happened after they received the letter? A creeping misery came
over the house.
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Describe the creeping misery that came over the house after the letter
came. His parents were not speaking to each other; they argued a lot.
Michaels father stopped fixing things around the house. He was scarcely
home and was down at the pub often.
__________________________________________________________________________

What was the big upsetting thing that happened to Michael? His best
friend, Eddie, moved away.
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What word on page 5 has the same meaning as destroyed? savaged
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Page 6
 Why was his Mum crying? His father had gone off.
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What did his father do according to his mother? Give three. He has sold
the car; The family was moving south, and his father was going to find
them a place.
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What does the idiom the last straw mean on page 6? The last in a
series of unpleasant events that finally makes you feel that you cannot
continue to accept a bad situation:
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Page 7
Why was his father so upset before he left? He was upset that it was his
son, Michael who was bringing in the only money, and he had nothing to
be proud about because he had lost his place in the household as the
breadwinner
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__________________________________________________________________________
Why did his Mum not want to go? Because she had been born there
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Why did his Dad seem so changed when they all met up again? He had
sorted everything out, had a brilliant idea, and had made up his mind
about what to do.

Page 8-9
Who was Peggy Sue? The yatch that his father bought.
__________________________________________________________________________
Why did his Dad make his decision? The family loves sailing, and sailing
was what he had been dreaming of doing.
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Page 10
What did his Dad think they would be thinking? That his plan was crazy.
__________________________________________________________________________
What were they going to do for 6 months before they leave? To train on
how to sail.
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How long did they intend to be away? A year or 18 months.
__________________________________________________________________________
What phrasal verb on page 10 means to slowly disappear? to dribble
away
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Page 11
Who would be the skipper? ____Mum_______ The first Mate? Dad________
The ships boy ____Michael__________ The ships cat _______Stella_________
How did they intend to train themselves up? Barnacle Bill will train them.
__________________________________________________________________________
What about Michael going to school? His parents will teach him.
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Page 12
What did Gran think about it all? It was reckless and irresponsible.
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_
Page 13
Who was Barnacle Bill? Describe him as a person.
He was an old whiskered mariner from the yacht club. A hard taskmaster
and thought children and animals were a nuisance.
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How did the training go? It went well.
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Page 14
Who were scared when training at sea? Michael and his father
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Who was the only one to get seasick? Michaels mom.
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What did he discover about his parents? They were more than just
parents. His father became his friend and shipmate. His mother was
gritty and could be a tyrant.
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Page 15
What did he think about his Mum? They had absolute confidence in her
as she was brilliant.
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What did Gran want to do when she came to wave them off ? She wanted
to come with them.
__________________________________________________________________________
Who else was there? Barnacle Bill, Eddie Dodds and other friends.
__________________________________________________________________________
What was given to Michael as a lucky mascot? What was special about
this mascot? A football. Eddie signed it all over with his name.
__________________________________________________________________________
Why did Michael think Stella fell quiet as they sailed past the Isle of
Wight? He thought that Stella could sense that there was no turning
back now.
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Page 16
And what did Michael realise then? It wasnt a dream. They were really
off round the
world.____________________________________________________________________
_

B. Summarize Chapter 1 below:

I disappeared on the night before my 12th birthday. There are 3 people in my

family and one sheep dog. We are living in harmony, until both of my of my parents
lose their jobs at the brick factory, because the brick factory shuts down. So they
look around town for new jobs but have no luck. My dad feels despair because the
only money coming in was my little income from delivering newspapers. Then my
Dad had gone off and later comes back to show us a yacht and thinks of living on
the sea for the millionth time but this time my mom is desperate and says okay. So
they look for a trainer to teach us the ways of the sea and so mom can get a
skippers (captains) license. My parents find a man named Barnacle Bill (also known
as Bill Parker) to train us on sailing. My father and I feel the fear of being in the
water and mom is seasick from time to time. My parents have planned on teaching
me so I wont miss school. Gran was not happy at first with this plan but later wants
to come with us. Eddie Dodds, Barnacle Bill are among the friends that wave us
goodbye. Eddie gives me a football as a lucky mascot. As we sail away, Stella is
quiet, and I realize that its not a dream and that were really going round the world.