43 pages • 1-hour read
Kensuke's Kingdom
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness.
Chapter 1 Summary: “Peggy Sue”
On July 28, 1988, the night before his 12th birthday, Michael disappeared. He promised a friend named Kensuke that he would conceal the truth of what happened while he was missing, but more than 10 years have passed since then, and he feels ready to tell his family and friends the extraordinary truth of how he survived. Part of Michael’s motivation for sharing his story is his desire for the world to know that Kensuke was “a great man, a good man” (5).
The narrative moves backward in time. Michael lives in England with his mother, father, and a sheepdog named Stella. He attends St. Joseph’s School and spends much of his time playing soccer with his best friend, Eddie Dodds. On Sundays, Michael, his parents, and his dog love to go dinghy sailing on the local reservoir.
When Michael is 10, his parents receive a letter informing them that the brickworks that employ them both will be shut down. As their search for new jobs drags on, his mother and father begin to argue frequently. Michael’s misery is compounded by the cessation of the family’s beloved sailing trips and by Eddie moving away.
Michael’s father sells the family’s car and goes off by himself to a seaside town called Fareham. About a week later, he asks his wife and son to join him. When they arrive, the man exudes his old cheer. He takes them to a 42-foot yacht named the Peggy Sue, which he says is their new home. He proposes that they take six months to train themselves to sail the yacht and then travel around the world for a year or so. Although he’s aware that this plan is out of the ordinary, he believes that their current unemployment frees them to pursue a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Michael’s mother agrees after learning that she will be in charge as the skipper.
A mariner from the local yacht club named Bill Parker oversees the family’s training, and Michael’s mother earns her Yachtmaster’s certificate. Although the boy and his father sometimes experience great fear when they face towering waves, she never seems afraid. During their training, Michael comes to see his father as a friend, and he has tremendous respect for his mother’s intelligence and leadership. On September 10, 1987, Bill, Michael’s grandmother, Eddie, and other family friends come to see them off as they set sail on their adventure. Eddie gives Michael a soccer ball and tells him that it will bring him luck.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Water, Water Everywhere”
At sea, Michael keeps busy helping his parents sail the Peggy Sue. He especially loves his turns at the wheel. Stella spends much of her time sleeping, and she likes to bark at porpoises, whales, sharks, and turtles. The dog comforts Michael’s mother when she feels seasick, and cuddling with her eases the boy’s fears when the seas are rough. He keeps the soccer ball near him during storms, and the object becomes a lucky charm to him.
After the family adjusts to the routine of life at sea, Michael’s parents insist that he resume his schoolwork. His history and geography lessons focus on the countries they visit, and he’s tasked with drawing the various birds, plants, and animals he encounters for his art and environmental studies classes. His mother teaches him how to navigate using a sextant and compass. Although Michael struggled with English during his traditional schooling, he finds that writing in his private ship’s log comes as easily and naturally as speaking. Years later, Michael consults this log to tell his life story.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Ship’s Log”
The narrative shifts to entries from the personal log Michael wrote when he was a child.
On September 20, Michael notes that the family left Southampton 10 days ago. He describes the harrowing Force 9 and 10 gales they faced in the Bay of Biscay before they reached Spain. They’re en route to the Azores next. When the weather is calm, his parents play chess. Michael relishes a sunny day but notes that he is already growing tired of the baked beans that fill the galley.
On October 11, Michael catches sight of Africa’s west coast. He enjoys drawing the aquatic creatures he sees but wishes that Eddie were with him to share in his adventure. He senses that his parents have had “a bit of a tiff” and assumes that it’s about chess (20).
On November 16, the family leaves Recife, Brazil with the wind generator and the rudder cable repaired. Michael proudly describes the game of soccer he played on the beach with his parents and some Brazilian children with the lucky ball Eddie gave him.
On December 25, the family celebrates Christmas at sea by listening to carols on the radio and sharing a Christmas pudding Michael’s grandmother made for them. Michael gives his parents two of his drawings, and they give him a knife they bought in Brazil. They stock the Peggy Sue with enough supplies and water to last them the long journey to South Africa.
On January 1, the Peggy Sue reaches Cape Town. Michael’s parents surprise him by saying that they can afford to spend weeks there and see wildlife like lions and elephants. The boy is thrilled and notes that his parents “really smile at each other” in a way they never did at home (23). His mother experiences stomach pains but doesn’t want to see a doctor.
On February 7, Stella falls overboard while the yacht is in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Michael and his parents make several desperate attempts to rescue her before they finally succeed. His father plans to make a safety harness for the dog. As Michael reflects on the rescue, he observes that this may be the happiest moment of his life.
On April 3, the family members see Perth, Australia, and hug one another, exultant in their accomplishment of sailing halfway around the world by themselves. Michael’s mother agrees to see a doctor about her stomach cramps.
On May 28, the family heads out to sea again after spending almost six weeks with Uncle John. Michael enjoyed riding horses with his cousins, Beth and Liza, and he was thrilled to see a wombat, kangaroos, and flocks of cockatoos. His mother feels much better after seeing a doctor in Australia. The family plans to sail to Sydney, explore the Great Barrier Reef, and then go to Papua New Guinea.
On July 28, Michael writes his final entry in his ship’s log. He describes a series of terrible storms that have beset the yacht since they left Sydney. The rudder cable snaps, which means that someone must be at the wheel at all times. His mother’s stomach cramps return worse than ever, and she’s too ill to steer or navigate. His father wants to put out a distress call, but she feels that this would be like giving up. As Michael writes in his log, his parents are asleep below deck. He fervently hopes that his mother will recover soon because they’re lost and might not survive another storm. Noting that Stella is on deck without her safety harness, he stops writing.
Michael tries to lure the dog away from the edge of the ship with the soccer ball, but it rolls into the water. Stella refuses to budge because she can hear someone singing. Michael picks her up, but he isn’t wearing his life jacket or safety harness, and a sudden movement of the yacht casts them both into the sea.
Chapters 1-3 Analysis
The first section establishes the novel as a suspenseful maritime adventure. In his depictions of the family’s voyage around the world, Morpurgo captures the dangers the characters face, the majesty of nature they witness, and the sense of possibility that inspires them. For example, Morpurgo describes the stark details that capture both the beauty and loneliness of a night on the ocean: “There was just us, and the dark sea around us and the millions of stars above” (17). Morpurgo frames the novel as a true autobiographical account that has been published as a book, using the excerpts from Michael’s ship’s log in Chapter 3 to add a touch of realism to this premise.
Morpurgo establishes Michael’s parents as adventurous and resourceful, turning the misfortune of losing their jobs into an opportunity to pursue their lifelong dream. Michael’s father surprises his family with the yacht, asking: “What is it that we all love doing most? Sailing, right? Wouldn’t it be wonderful […] if we could just take off and sail around the world?” (10). Michael’s mother repeatedly demonstrates fearlessness in the face of storms and other perils. Michael’s pride in his family’s resourcefulness and courage shines through his narration: “We’ve sailed all the way from England to Australia. That’s halfway around the world. And we did it on our own” (25). The resilience demanded by the family’s maritime adventures prepares Michael to adapt to the new challenges he faces after being separated from them.
Morpurgo frequently uses foreshadowing in this first section to build suspense, propelling the narrative forward. Early in Chapter 1, the narrator establishes that his “life was just normal” until a letter arrived, foreshadowing the major life changes his family will experience. Michael’s dog, Stella Artois, who “always seemed to know what was about to happen before it did,” attacks the letter informing the family that both parents are about to lose their jobs (5). Similarly, Michael’s ship’s log mentions that the rudder cable needs repairs multiple times, foreshadowing the moment when the cable snaps in the storms, causing Michael to fall overboard in unfamiliar waters—a moment that acts as the inciting incident of the story. Near the end of Chapter 3, Michael and Stella hear someone “singing out there in the darkness” (27), a clue that foreshadows that Kensuke lives on a nearby island and will rescue the boy and his dog.
Like many of Morpurgo’s novels, Kensuke’s Kingdom examines The Essential Need for Friendship and Companionship. Although the titular Kensuke doesn’t appear until later in the story, the author opens the novel by establishing the story itself as a record of Kensuke’s life and his impact on Michael. At the start of the first chapter, Michael asserts: “Kensuke was a great man, a good man, and he was my friend. I want the world to know him as I knew him” (5). Stella Artois, the family sheepdog and “greatest comfort” (15), acts as a motif of the essential need for companionship throughout the novel, soothing Michael during stormy weather and sickness. Michael proves the strength of his bond with the dog when he goes overboard trying to keep Stella safe—an event foreshadowed by his father risking his own life to rescue her earlier in Chapter 3.
Michael’s bond with Stella establishes his love of animals, pointing to The Importance of Ethical Relationships with Nature, a central theme of the story during his time on the island. This love grows thanks to his travels, which immerse him in nature and introduce him to the wildlife of Africa, Australia, and South America. For example, Michael’s encounter with elephants leaves a deep impression on him. As Michael notes: “I still dream of the elephants in South Africa. I loved how slow they are, and thoughtful. I loved their wise, weepy eyes” (24). Michael expresses the joy nature evokes in him by drawing the creatures he sees, and both his deep respect for the natural world and his budding artistic potential are nurtured by Kensuke later in the novel.
The soccer ball given to Michael by his childhood best friend, Eddie Dodds, serves as a symbol of good fortune, saving Michael’s life when he falls overboard. On the Peggy Sue, Michael keeps the ball near him when he feels afraid during storms, noting: “The soccer ball had become a sort of talisman for me, a lucky charm” (16). Significantly, the soccer ball goes overboard almost immediately before Michael does, ensuring that Michael survives and sweeping him into an adventure that will help him grow in positive ways.
Unlock all 43 pages of this Study Guide
Get in-depth, chapter-by-chapter summaries and analysis from our literary experts.
- Grasp challenging concepts with clear, comprehensive explanations
- Revisit key plot points and ideas without rereading the book
- Share impressive insights in classes and book clubs