The Marble Crusher and Other Stories
1992
First Published
3.72
Average Rating
96
Number of Pages
This book includes three captivating stories from a master storyteller. In The Marble Crusher, Albert is new at school and believes everything the bully Sid tells him about the headmaster, Mr. Manners, and his terrifying marble-crushing machine. Albert feels desperate when his marbles are confiscated, but Mr. Manners finds a way to turn the joke on Sid. In Colly’s Barn, Annie had to find a way to stop the farm's old barn from being torn down. Nothing, it seems, can save it—until Colly the swallow and Screecher the owl help Annie save their home. And in Conker, it’s the time of year when conkers, the hard fruit of the chestnut tree, ripen. That means it’s also time for conker fights, and Nick desperately wants to win. With a little help from his grandmother, he becomes a very special conker champion.
Avg Rating
3.72
Number of Ratings
123
5 STARS
23%
4 STARS
36%
3 STARS
33%
2 STARS
7%
1 STARS
2%
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Author
Michael Morpurgo
Author · 138 books
Sir Michael Andrew Morpurgo, OBE, FRSL is the author of many books for children, five of which have been made into films. He also writes his own screenplays and libretti for opera. Born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1943, he was evacuated to Cumberland during the last years of the Second World War, then returned to London, moving later to Essex. After a brief and unsuccessful spell in the army, he took up teaching and started to write. He left teaching after ten years in order to set up 'Farms for City Children' with his wife. They have three farms in Devon, Wales and Gloucestershire, open to inner city school children who come to stay and work with the animals. In 1999 this work was publicly recognised when he and his wife were invested a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to youth. In 2003, he was advanced to an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 2004. He was knighted in the 2018 for his services to literature and charity. He is also a father and grandfather, so children have always played a large part in his life. Every year he and his family spend time in the Scilly Isles, the setting for three of his books.
