Running Wild (novel)

Last updated

Running Wild
Running Wild (novel).jpg
First edition
Author Michael Morpurgo
IllustratorSarah Young
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Children's
Set inIndonesia
Publisher HarperCollins
Publication date
2009
Media typePrint
Pages347
AwardsIndependent Bookseller's Children's Book of the Year 2010
ISBN 9780007267019
OCLC 373477685

Running Wild is a children's novel by Michael Morpurgo first published in 2009. It recounts the adventures of a boy who has to survive in the Indonesian jungle after being rescued from a tsunami by an elephant. [1]

Contents

Plot summary

Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo starts with a boy, Will Robert, riding an elephant along a beach, whilst on holiday in Indonesia. Will is grieving for his father, Robert, who died in the Iraq War. The elephant, Oona, is in an odd mood that day: her handler mentions that she refused to go into the sea for her usual morning dip. Suddenly, Oona charges off with Will clinging on for dear life. As they ascend a hill, Will witnesses the Boxing Day tsunami obliterating the beach where he had been moments earlier. Will is very sad.

Oona heads into the jungle with Will on her back, and Will gradually learns to communicate with her and finds fruit and water enabling him to survive in the wild. He also remembers a long-ago lesson from his father, who taught him how to catch fish from a stream using his clothing as a net. However, Will struggles with biting insects and leeches. One day, there is a standoff between Oona and a tiger, and Will remembers the poem "The Tyger" by William Blake. Saying this poem out loud gives Will courage. This courage is needed when Will is kidnapped by hunters, and finds out about threats to the rainforest through trade in exotic pets, animal furs, palm oil and timber. Later Will escapes with the help of a chef, Kaya, who frees them by cutting open their wooden cage, leaving Will and the orangutans to run back into the wild. They wander the rainforest until they run into Oona. Will is over joyed to find Oona and climbs on her back with the orangutans.

Inspiration

The idea for this book came from a newspaper article about Aamber Owen, who was saved from the 2004 tsunami by an elephant whom she was riding at the time. Morpurgo had not traced Owen until 2016, and invited her and her family to the opening night of the stage production in London. [2] Morpurgo was also influenced by The Jungle Book and "The Elephant's Child", his two favourite stories from his childhood. [3]


Reception

Writing in the Guardian , Linda Newbery says: “With its emphasis on animal instincts and social behaviour, Running Wild, part epic adventure, part plea for threatened habitats, will surely rank alongside his best-loved books.” [4]

Stage adaptation

In 2016 Samuel Adamson adapted it for the stage, in a production at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Jungle Book</i> 1894 childrens book by Rudyard Kipling

The Jungle Book (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who is raised in the jungle by wolves. Most stories are set in a forest in India; one place mentioned repeatedly is "Seeonee" (Seoni), in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.

<i>The Second Jungle Book</i> Book by Rudyard Kipling

The Second Jungle Book is a sequel to The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. First published in 1895, it features five stories about Mowgli and three unrelated stories, all but one set in India, most of which Kipling wrote while living in Vermont. All of the stories were previously published in magazines in 1894–5, often under different titles. The 1994 film The Jungle Book used it as a source.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Houston Zoo</span> Zoo in Houston, Texas, United States

The Houston Zoo is a 55-acre (22 ha) zoological park located within Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, United States. The zoo houses over 6,000 animals from more than 900 species. It receives around 2 million visitors each year and is the second most visited zoo in the United States, surpassed only by the San Diego Zoo. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Wayne Children's Zoo</span> Nonprofit zoo in Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.

The Fort Wayne Children's Zoo is a zoo in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. Since opening in 1965, the 1,000-animal zoo has been located on 40 acres (16 ha) in Fort Wayne's Franke Park. The Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo is operated by the non-profit Fort Wayne Zoological Society under a cooperative agreement with the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department. The zoo receives no tax funding for operations and operates solely on earned revenue and donations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaa</span> Fictional animal character

Kaa is a fictional character from The Jungle Book stories written by Rudyard Kipling. He is a giant snake who is 30 feet long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium</span> Zoo and aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium is a zoo in Omaha, Nebraska. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. In August 2014, TripAdvisor rated it the "world's best zoo", ahead of the San Diego Zoo and Loro Parque, based on an algorithmic assimilation of millions of reviews for 275 major zoos worldwide.

<i>The Jungle Book</i> (1994 film) 1994 American film

Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, also known as The Jungle Book, is a 1994 American adventure film co-written and directed by Stephen Sommers, produced by Edward S. Feldman and Raju Patel, from a story by Ronald Yanover and Mark Geldman. It is a live-action adaptation of the Mowgli stories from The Jungle Book (1894) and The Second Jungle Book (1895) by Rudyard Kipling, alongside Walt Disney's animated feature film of the same name from 1967; unlike its counterparts, the animal characters in this film do not talk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birutė Galdikas</span> Lithuanian-Canadian primatologist, conservationist

Birutė Marija Filomena Galdikas or Birutė Mary Galdikas, OC, is a Lithuanian-Canadian anthropologist, primatologist, conservationist, ethologist, and author. She is a professor at Simon Fraser University. In the field of primatology, Galdikas is recognized as a leading authority on orangutans. Prior to her field study of orangutans, scientists knew little about the species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Letting in the Jungle</span>

"Letting In the Jungle" is a short story by Rudyard Kipling which continues Mowgli's adventures from "Mowgli's Brothers" and "Tiger! Tiger!". The story was written at Kipling's parents' home in Tisbury, Wiltshire, and is therefore the only Mowgli story not written in Vermont.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Morpurgo</span> British childrens writer (born 1943)

Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as War Horse (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytelling", for recurring themes such as the triumph of an outsider or survival, for characters' relationships with nature, and for vivid settings such as the Cornish coast or World War I. Morpurgo became the third Children's Laureate, from 2003 to 2005, and he is also the current President of BookTrust, the UK's largest children's reading charity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ah Meng</span> A female Sumatran orangutan and a tourism icon of Singapore

Ah Meng was a female Sumatran orangutan and a tourism icon of Singapore. Ah Meng was originally from Indonesia and was kept illegally in Singapore as a domestic pet before being recovered by a veterinarian in 1971. She was then eleven years old and was given a home at the Singapore Zoo.

Orangutans have often attracted attention in popular culture. They are mentioned extensively in works of fiction and video games, while some captive individuals have drawn much attention in real life.

<i>S Club 7 Go Wild!</i> British TV series or programme

S Club 7 Go Wild! is a television series starring British pop group S Club 7, who worked with the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) to help raise awareness of the threats facing wildlife around the world. Each member adopted an endangered animal and travelled to their respective natural habitat in different locations around the globe. There were seven 30-minute episodes, one for each member of the band, which were aired on BBC Two in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borneo Orangutan Survival</span> Non-profit orangutan conservation foundation

The Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation is an Indonesian non-profit non-governmental organization founded by Dr. Willie Smits in 1991 and dedicated to the conservation of the endangered Bornean orangutan and its habitat through the involvement of local people. It is audited by an external auditor company and operates under the formal agreement with the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry to conserve and rehabilitate orangutans. The BOS Foundation manages orangutan rescue, rehabilitation and re-introduction programmes in East and Central Kalimantan. With more than 400 orangutans in its care and employing more than 440 people at a 10 sites BOS Foundation is the biggest non-human primate conservation non-governmental organization worldwide. Nyaru Menteng and Samboja Lestari are the BOS Foundation sites that have received most extensive media coverage. Nyaru Menteng, founded by Lone Drøscher Nielsen, has been the subject of a number of TV series, including Orangutan Diary, Orangutan Island and the series Orangutan Jungle School, airing since 2018.

Lone Drøscher Nielsen is a Danish wildlife conservationist who established the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project in Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willie Smits</span>

Willie Smits is a trained forester, a microbiologist, conservationist, animal welfare activist, wilderness engineer and social entrepreneur. He has lived in Indonesia since 1985 and is an Indonesian citizen. He is married to Adrienne C. Watson since March 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samboja Lestari</span>

Samboja Lestari is a Bornean orangutan rescue and rehabilitation centre, tropical rainforest restoration project, sun bear sanctuary, and eco-lodge located in the district of Samboja in Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, owned and operated by the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation. According to its founder, Willie Smits, Samboja Lestari uses the principles of People, Planet, Profit, attempting to provide incomes for local people using conservation. It is located about 38 kilometres from Balikpapan.

<i>Wild Kratts</i> Educational childrens television series

Wild Kratts is an educational children's television series that uses a hybrid of live action and Flash animation. The series was created by the Kratt brothers, Chris and Martin. The Kratt Brothers Company and 9 Story Media Group produce the show, which is presented by PBS Kids in the United States and by TVOKids in Canada. The show's aim is to educate children about species, biology, zoology, and ecology, and teach kids small ways to make big impacts. It has ties to the Kratts' previous shows, Kratts' Creatures and Zoboomafoo, and contains numerous characters from the latter. Spanning over twelve years, Wild Kratts is the longest running program made by the Kratt Brothers. It was also the last show to premiere on the PBS Kids Go! block before the block was discontinued in 2013 in favor of making PBS Kids aimed at all children young and old alike.

<i>The Green Squad</i> French TV series or program

The Green Squad is a French animated television series, produced by Gaumont Alphanim. It is based from the French comic book series called "Les Sauvenature". It has been shown on Starz Kids & Family in the United States from March 16, 2013 to June 11, 2016 also known as Savage Family Wild. The Green Squad is the name of a network created by three siblings, Claire, Julian and Thomas Savage along with their pet Wifi, whose mission is to protect plant and animal species, their environments and different kinds of discoveries. Thus, they travel around the world as they're job is to protect endangered animals and save Earth's landmarks and artifacts. They embark on their extraordinary adventures as they discuss each other through a worldwide blogging network to save the planet's natural sites.

<i>A Summer to Remember</i> 1985 American TV series or program

A Summer to Remember is a 1985 American family television drama film written and directed by Robert Michael Lewis and starring James Farentino, Tess Harper and Louise Fletcher.

References

  1. Running Wild at WorldCat
  2. "Interview: Michael Morpurgo, author - The Scotsman". scotsman.com. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  3. "Michael Morpurgo: we don't read to our children enough - Telegraph". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  4. "Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo | Book review Books | The Guardian". theguardian.com. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  5. "Open Air Theatre; Running Wild" . Retrieved 18 May 2022.