Flamingo Boy

Flamingo Boy
Michael Morpurgo

A stunning new classic from master storyteller Michael Morpurgo for readers of 9+, in the vein of PRIVATE PEACEFUL and THE BUTTERFLY LIONThis is a landmark new novel form the nation’s favourite storyteller, set in the unique landscape of the Camargue in the South of France during WW2. There, a young autistic boy lives on his parents’ farm among the salt flats, and the flamingos that live there. There are lots of things he doesn’t understand: but he does know how to heal animals. He loves routine, and music too: and every week he goes to market with his mother, to ride his special horse on the town carousel.But then the Germans come, with their guns, and take the town. A soldier shoots a flamingo from the sky, and it falls to earth terribly injured. And even worse is to come: the carousel is damaged, the horses broken. For this vulnerable boy, everything is falling apart.Only there’s a kind sergeant among the Germans – a man with a young boy of his own at home, a man who trained as a carpenter. Between them, perhaps boy and man can mend what has been broken – and maybe even the whole town…

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2018

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Text copyright © Michael Morpurgo 2018

Jacket photographs © Maria Castellanos/Shutterstock (flying flamingos); Stefano Garau/Shutterstock (front cover flamingo); Ondrej Prosicky/Shutterstock (flying flamingos at sunrise); blickwinkel/Alamy Stock Photo (bull); Christian Hütter/Alamy Stock Photo (flamingo frieze); Pixelheld/Shutterstock (dunes); gyn9037/Shutterstock (dark clouds); bepsy/Shutterstock (swamp); saranya33/Shutterstock (sunset); Sergey Uryadnikov/Shutterstock (Camargue horses); Nataliya Hora/Shutterstock (carousel); Stephen Mulcahey/Arcangel (boy)

Jacket design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2018

Cover image of Flamingo Boy written by Michael Morpurgo

Michael Morpurgo asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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Source ISBN: 9780008134631

Ebook Edition © 2018 ISBN: 9780008134662

Version: 2018-09-04

For Alan, for Lorens, and their mum and dad

Contents

Cover (#ucecafdd3-f87d-5ec9-812a-203ffb16b4b2)

Title Page (#u895e5490-a416-5e77-81e0-aff26ab69f95)

Copyright (#u8d7bba4c-d5c1-5fa7-916f-bbfa45cbed68)

Dedication (#ub42927a4-6f17-5ead-bdee-e87a29b07187)

Chapter 1: Someone Called Vincent (#u5a79f13c-90d8-577d-a5d7-0a6bfe42c74a)

Chapter 2: My Near-death Experience (#u266a8908-aa44-510d-8142-96b8d76b06d4)

Chapter 3: The Long, Straight Road to Nowhere (#u597efef9-128c-5e3d-abfe-1e6aa4aad076)

Chapter 4: Renzo Renzo (#u674cecc7-e7d6-583c-b96d-032b01a52e70)

Chapter 5: A Complete Flamingo (#uf116b643-03bc-5e3d-a2a2-7d5701515772)

Chapter 6: How it Was, How We Were (#u53609af0-ce37-5f90-992c-c76d9bd6bcf0)

Chapter 7: The Charbonneau Carousel (#ua449b24b-504b-58da-b21a-c8b61f69c50e)

Chapter 8: Rousel Rousel! (#u36457bfa-2fe5-5301-aa49-3a69edd7df84)

Chapter 9: Fly, Flamingo, Fly (#ucde47903-1910-57fa-8ded-a86fc9081744)

Chapter 10: We Live For That (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11: Occupation (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12: Be Proud and Carry On (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13: The Day the Music Died (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14: A New Dawn (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15: Not in Front of Lorenzo (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16: Grette Grette (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17: Out of Sight, Out of Mind (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18: Missing, Gone! (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19: Killing Dragons (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20: Agon Agon! (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 21: Patience is a Virtue (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 22: An Accident, A Casualty (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 23: Like a Miracle (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 24: Flying Lessons (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 25: Trust (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 26: They Will Be Back (#litres_trial_promo)