Noah’s gold

Frank Cottrell-Boyce, illus. Steven Lenton
Macmillan
Age 9+

Finding yourself a stowaway on your sister’s geography trip sounds adventure enough in itself but this proves to be only the beginning for Noah Moriarty.  Misdirected by Satnav, the group end up stranded on a small island instead of their intended destination. They have to find ways to survive without their teacher, or the Internet which isn’t working. Noah who blames himself for ‘breaking’ the Internet, proves the most resourceful, particularly when it comes to sourcing food and of course trying to fix the Internet problem.

Noah’s Gold is an amazing adventure story told mainly through letters involving hidden treasure, dastardly villains and creative cookery with themes of teamwork, family loyalty and coping without the Internet.

Talk about the story

▪︎Talk about the different characters in the story, which ones were the most interesting?

▪︎Which scenes from the story stick in your mind the most?

▪︎Talk about Noah and his sister – why was Eve reluctant to admit Noah was her brother?

▪︎Could you manage without the Internet, or without a mobile phone?  

See our print-off activity book with some of these ideas and other activities

Things to make and do

▪︎Write an imaginary postcard from Noah to his Mum and Dad showing a scene from the story perhaps the gold in the cave.

▪︎Make a treasure map like the one in the book for the same island or an imaginary island of your own. Think about the symbols you will use for different parts eg woodland, hills or caves.

▪︎Design a meal using some of the ingredients Noah found in the caravan, the garden or sea eg beans, noodles, potatoes, carrots, garlic, small fry fish. Write a menu.  

Extra things to do
▪︎Make soda bread following Noah’s granny’s recipe

▪︎Talk to older people in the family and find out about all the ways people communicated before the Internet including writing letters and postcards

▪︎Look out for a phone box at a rail station or town centre, find out how to make a call.

▪︎Write a real letter to a friend or someone in your family.

Find out more

Choose something from the story to find out more about eg

▪︎Sea birds
▪︎Basking sharks
▪︎How the internet works
▪︎The development of the Satnav

Find out more about Frank Cottrell Boyce, Children’s Laureate 2024-2026

Read more books by Frank Cottrell-Boyce. Titles include:

Millions, Runaway Robot, Cosmic, The Astounding Broccoli Boy, The Unforgotten Coat, The Wonder Brothers

Find out more about illustrator Steven Lenton