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Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo OBE (born 1943) is a British writer. Michael Morpurgo grew up in wartime London. At school he was once described as being ‘rather stupid but great at rugby’. more...

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He became a teacher, but the book Poetry in the Making by Ted Hughes made him decide to write instead. He is the author of over one hundred books, most for children, many of which have attracted literary prizes and awards.

Five of his books have been made into films. My Friend Walter (1988) and Out of the Ashes (2001) have both been adapted for television.

Biography

Early life

Michael Morpurgo was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire in 1943. During the last years of World War II he was evacuated to Cumberland; he later moved back to London, and then on to Essex. He attended schools in London, Sussex and Canterbury (his unhappy experiences at boarding school would later be drawn upon for his novel The Butterfly Lion - possibly his most famous work to date.) He later spent a small while in the army.

Teaching

Michael studied English and French at the University of London, and then went on to teach Primary school students in Kent. Whilst teaching he discovered his talent for storytelling, stating "I could see there was magic in it for them, and realised there was magic in it for me."

Farms for City Children

In 1976 Michael Morpurgo and his wife, Clare Morpurgo, established the charity Farms for City Children, with the primary aim of providing children from inner city areas with experience of the countryside. The program involves the children spending a week at a countryside farm, during which they will take part in purposeful farmyard work.

50,000 children have taken part in the scheme since it was set up, and the Morpurgos now have three farms in Devon, Gloucestershire and Wales. In 1999 the couple were created Members of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of these services to youth. Morpurgo was raised to Officer of the British Empire (OBE) on 17 June 2006.

Children's Laureate

In 2003 Morpurgo became the third Children's Laureate, a scheme which he helped to set up with the late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes in order to reward individuals involved in children's literature. The award has so far been awarded to both authors and illustrators of children's books. He stopped being Laureate in 2005, when Anne Fine received the job.

Illustrators

Michael Morpurgo has worked with the following illustrators:

Read more at Wikipedia.org