Michael Morpurgo Author

Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo OBE is an English book author, poet, playwriter, 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. In 1976, Morpurgo and his wife Clare established the charity Farms for City Children with the primary aim of providing children from inner city areas with experience of the countryside. The programme involves the children spending a week at a countryside farm, during which they take part in purposeful farmyard work. The charity's first president was the couple's close friend and neighbour, Ted Hughes.[29] About 85,000 children have taken part in the scheme since it was set up, and the charity now has three farms in Wales, Devon, Gloucestershire. Morpurgo has referred to the charity as his greatest achievement in life.