King of the Cloud Forests

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Michael Morpurgo is a master storyteller, former Children's Laureate and multi-award winner. This is a fresh reissue of a much-loved story with a beautiful new cover. Escaping from China as the Japanese invade, Ashley and Uncle Sung embark on a perilous journey across the Himalayas.

Then Ashley finds himself alone in the hostile mountains, battling for his life. He is just about to give up all hope, when he has a mysterious and terrifying encounter.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

Gr 4-7-When the Japanese invade China in 1941, Ashley's missionary father sends his son away with Uncle Sung, an old doctor from Tibet. The pair must travel through Tibet, Nepal, and India on their way to England and Ashley's grandmother. Uncle Sung disguises Ashley as a Tibetan boy because strangers, especially white foreigners, are suspect in the countries they must pass through. The disguise works for a while, but once the deception is discovered, they must escape into the mountains where they become trapped in a small hut, high in the Himalayas, during a blizzard. On the verge of starvation and fearing wolf attacks, Uncle Sung goes for help, leaving Ashley in the hut. On the brink of death and despair, and fearing that Uncle Sung has frozen to death, Ashley is rescued by the Yetis and goes to live among them in their forest cave, where he is protected and revered by these gentle giants. Michael Morpurgo is both the author of this unusual and engaging story (Viking, 1988) and the narrator of the audiobook. His appealing voice and British accent are perfect for this story told by Ashley.Middle-grade students will enjoy this survival tale.-Kathy Miller, Baldwin Junior High, Baldwin City, KS (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Gr. 6-9. Readers will be immediately intrigued as the narrator, Ashley Anderson, recounts how, at age 14, he was caught in the middle of the Japanese invasion of China. On the insistence of his physician-missionary father, Ashley leaves with Uncle Sung, a trusted aide who will chart their arduous journey across the Himalayas to India. The trip is even more difficult than imagined, with hunger, illness, and ravenous wolves adding to the danger. When Uncle Sung goes off to find food, Ashley is sure he is going to die alone; to his amazement, he is rescued by a band of yeti-abominable snowmen-who seem to recognize him as someone they have known, perhaps worshipped, before. While this excels as a gripping adventure story, it is also a keen psychological drama, reminiscent of Kipling's ``Man Who Would Be King.'' As in that tale, a powerful predecessor has become part of the natives' lore, making the unmasking of the newcomer a distinct possibility. Ashley reluctantly leaves before that can happen. Reunited with Uncle Sung, Ashley travels to England where he meets the man who lived with the yeti, and though their reunion is hopelessly contrived, the story is so action packed that readers will hardly care. Plotting, pace, characterizations (of both humans and yeti) are all superb. A spellbinding read-aloud and a top-notch offering-especially to boys who think books are boring. IC. Adventure and adventurers-Fiction / Tibet (China)-Fiction [CIP] 87-29834

Kirkus Book Review

Accompanied by Uncle Sung, an old Tibetan doctor, Ashley (14) leaves his missionary father and escapes the Japanese invasion of China by traveling through Tibet and Nepal to India. While Sung scouts for food, Ashley is left alone in a hut high in the mountains. Ill, hungry, and snowed in, he is in despair for his life when he is rescued by yetis--giant, hairy, big-footed humanoids who prove to have a simple but idyllic culture. Mistaking Ashley for an earlier visitor whose photograph they still treasure, the yetis treat him as their king; but in time he realizes that even his limited knowledge may contaminate their purity, so he escapes and continues his journey to Britain. Ashley's brisk narrative, though it is brief and easily read, has the charm of ruminative, old-fashioned adventure novels told in the first person. The yetis' appeal has more to do with their Shangri-La-like life than with being ""Abominable Snowmen,"" but they hold fascination both ways. Morpurgo makes a thoughtful, anti-imperalist statement in Ashley's fear of becoming the yetis' ""false god,"" later reinforced by Uncle Sung's comment to Ashley's condescending aunts: ""There is often much truth in simplicity."" The discovery of the yetis' earlier visitor, now an aged doctor, rests on too improbable a coincidence, but it does neatly round the story. An unusual, well-told yarn. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.