Boy Giant, by Michael Morpurgo

Title: Boy Giant, Son of Gulliver
Author: Michael Morpurgo
Illustrator: Michael Foreman
Genre/ issues: Middle grade, refugee stories, reimagined classics.

I’m a sucker for a book which takes a classic narrative and gives it a contemporary twist, so a rewrite of Gulliver’s Travels should be right up my alley, right? Well, yes and no. I appreciate the message around finding your place in a new world as a refugee. The multiple narrators convey an interesting story, the illustrations and typesetting are fab, and the voice of the eponymous Boy Giant, Afghani refugee Omar, is authentic and linguistically well represented. I think there will be some readers to whom this book will speak loudly and powerfully, but I’m just not one of them. I’m a firm believer in the idea that when the right people and books come together, Magic happens, and for me, there was no magic here. If I was still in a library, though, I’d have no hesitation recommending it to younger readers. I think the interplay between classic British literature and migrant story that happens in this text is really interesting, and I’m glad I read it. It would probably have helped, truth be told, if I actually enjoyed Gullivers Travels!

#TamaraReads #2020readingchallenge 6/52

Happy reading,