Billy the Kid
Written by Michael Morpurgo
Narrated by Richard Attenborough
5/5
()
About this audiobook
Read by the inimitable Richard Attenborough. Billy was a champion soccer star, playing for Chelsea in the 1930s. But that was before war broke out…
Billy the Kid is told through the voice of an 80 year old man, who looks back on his life as Chelsea’s champion striker until the outbreak of war in 1939 and on through his subsequent life. Billy joins Chelsea as a football apprentice, rises through the reserves to become a real champion. His passion for football sees him through the war years – even as a prisoner of war he organises a friendly against the Italians – but, having been injured by a mine he cannot play for Chelsea on his return to England. Billy turns to vagrancy and alcohol and for years he wanders up and down the country. he re-settles in London in a derelict house and is befriended by a family who move him to a shed in their garden. He, in turn, helps their son with his football who in his turn becomes a Chelsea player. Billy becomes a Chelsea Pensioner and his 80th birthday is celebrated when Chelsea play at home. A novel for both children and adults which deals with some difficult issues. Michael Morpurgo’s storytelling is superb.
Michael Morpurgo
Michael Morpurgo OBE is one of Britain's best loved writers for children, with sales of over 35 million copies. He has written over 150 books, has served as Children’s Laureate, and has won many prizes, including the Smarties Prize, the Writers Guild Award, the Whitbread Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Eleanor Farjeon Lifetime Achievement Award. With his wife, Clare, he is the co-founder of Farms for City Children. Michael was knighted in 2018 for services to literature and charity.
More audiobooks from Michael Morpurgo
An Elephant in the Garden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kaspar: Prince of Cats Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Listen to the Moon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Friend or Foe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Farm Boy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outlaw: The Story of Robin Hood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shadow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Born to Run Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Billy the Kid
Related audiobooks
The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Waiting for Anya Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Butterfly Lion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sparrow: The Story of Joan of Arc Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Medal for Leroy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Little Manfred Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shadow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Millions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Toro! Toro! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Born to Run Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outlaw: The Story of Robin Hood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dancing Bear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr Skip Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr Nobody’s Eyes Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Nine lives of Montezuma Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Into the Sideways World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nowhere Boy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Connect the Stars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Jungle Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Time Travelling with a Hamster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Her Right Foot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When Fishes Flew: The Story of Elena’s War Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Chance: Escape from the Holocaust: Memories of a Refugee Childhood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Barney the Horse and Other Tales from the Farm Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mozart Question Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5That Time I Got Kidnapped Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cool! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Marble Crusher Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5War Horse 40th Anniversary Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Children's Social Themes For You
A Bad Case of Stripes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5New Kid Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winnie-the-Pooh Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The School for Good and Evil: Now a Netflix Originals Movie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Out of My Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dragonet Prophecy: Wings of Fire, Book 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bridge to Terabithia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pax Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The One and Only Ivan Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine (National Book Award Finalist) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ghost Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Smart Cookie Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The One and Only Bob Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Adventures of Captain Underpants: Color Edition (Captain Underpants #1): Captain Underpants, Book 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What Happened to Rachel Riley? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wish Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lost Continent: Wings of Fire, Book 11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5That Was Then, This Is Now Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unteachables Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Days With Frog and Toad Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frog and Toad Together Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The School for Good and Evil #2: A World without Princes: Now a Netflix Originals Movie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Escaping Peril (Wings of Fire #8) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Between the Lines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chrysanthemum Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Out of My Heart Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Harold & The Purple Crayon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Billy the Kid
5 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It is a story that highlights the horror of war, the resilience of the human spirit and the enriching qualities of love, kindness and friendship.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Billy wanted to play for the Chelsea Football club. Billy`s dream came true but the second world war had started. Soon Billy went to war but came back to find his family dead. After walking up and down the country for years he comes back to the house where he live in his childhood and coaches a boy up into the Chelsea team.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I read this a couple of books ago to my 8 year old son and 6 year old daughter. It was quite hard going for them in places and we talked about the story and characters and what happens in war quite a bit before and after readings. Generally we read through to the end of the next very short chapter with the old man in the park observing. The story in several places had me almost losing my voice and welling up. It is very emotive, deep and tells of one man's story of war. There is a harrowing murder. It is a brilliant book. I've become a fan of the author and this is something like the 6th book I've read to these children. With this being such an intense read in places, we lined up a more light hearted story to launch into next. We've just read another Morpugo - My Friend Walter, nothing like as hard or emotional, but the children loved it even more, perhaps because it was more of a wild imaginary story rather than something so hard and believable. It was as we were reading this when we saw an old beggar in the street. My boy wanted to know what the man's story was, but on this occasion we did not have time to stop and ask.