If you thought that story telling was dead, think again. Michael Morpurgo is one of the greatest storytellers alive and well in the 21st Century. His children's stories are being told to new generations of children that have been springing up since he first wrote a piece of literary work in the 1980s. Morpurgo has gone on to write over 100 books. His works have been translated into 26 languages. Some of his stories have been turned into television series and stage plays. He has also written screenplays and libretti for opera.

Early Life

Michael Morpurgo was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1943. In childhood he attended a number of schools across the South of England. One of the schools, a boarding school, is reflected upon in his book The Butterfly Lion. Later he embarked on an army career at Sandhurst Military Academy, but this was short lived as he went back to his studies. He learnt French and English at Kings College, London and trained as a teacher, landing himself a Primary School teaching post in Kent upon graduation. Inspired by Ted Hughes   Poetry in the Making and his own teaching experiences, it was in Kent that Morpurgo decided upon becoming a writer.

We had to read the children a story every day and my lot were bored by the book I was reading. I decided I had to do something and told them the kind of story I used to tell my kids - it was like a soap opera, and they focused on it. I could see there was magic in it for them, and realised there was magic in it for me.

His Books

For many schools and indeed libraries, Morpurgo is the writer that many of these establishments are crying out for. Why? because with his old fashioned approach to writing, where the values inherent in the stories he tells transcend time and place, he is able to get inside the imaginative minds of the young and old and delight them with his storytelling. The theme of 'community' and 'young and old' are also reflected within his stories, mirroring his targeted audience and the theme 'nature' is particularly significant when a group of children listen to his stories on one of his farms in the UK. Of course you don't need to be one of the lucky ones who gets to visit one of his farms, his stories surrounding these themes will have an impact on you where ever you are in Europe. For many of us have heard about the Wars that he discusses in some of his books and heard about the foot and mouth outbreak (Out of the Ashes (2001)) and the holocaust. Perhaps you may have even heard about the whales swimming up the Thames or the historical characters Robin Hood, Arthur and Sir Walter Raleigh to name but a few. Of course these stories have already been heard by generations of people, but nevertheless they are stories that have impacted on his mind and he feels a need to regurgitate them and excite a new generation that is starting to learn about them too.

• It Never Rained: Five Stories - his first book, compiling of his very first work.
• My Friend Walter - the tale of what happens once Sir Walter Raleigh sends out invitations to generations of his family despite being a ghost.
• Out of the Ashes - the diary accounts of Becky Morley who witnesses first hand the devastation of the foot and mouth outbreak.
• The Mozart Question - the tale of a young lad (Paolo Levi) who after learning his father once played the violin yearns to play the instrument himself.
• The War Horse - the tale of Albert and the survival of his friendship with his horse Joey through the First World War.

Farms For City Children

During his ten years as a teacher he became increasingly aware of the fact that many children had little knowledge of animals, so in 1976 he left teaching behind and moved to Devon with his wife, Clare, and set up the charity Farms for City Children.

As a teacher I realised many children had little real contact with the world around them – to them the television was real. I wanted them to experience life at first hand.

The aim of the charity is to encourage inner city children to form bonds with animals by visiting a farm and playing farmer for a week. Morpurgo owns three farms in total, one in Nethercott, Devon, another in Treginnis, Wales, and he even has one in Wick, Gloucestershire. The charity has been so successful¹ that he has been given backing from the Princess Royal and he and his wife have become MBE's for services to youth.

Home Life

Morpurgo currently lives in Devon with his wife. They have three children and are grandparents six times over. Morpurgo is always surrounded by children whether they are his or children that visit him on any of the three farms he owns.

For me, the greater part of writing is daydreaming, dreaming the dream of my story until it hatches out - the writing down of it I always find hard. But I love finishing it, then holding the book in my hand and sharing my dream with my readers.

The Children's Laureate

Morpurgo has also been instrumental in setting up The Children's Laureate alongside the poet Ted Hughes. This award is given out to authors who spend their lives writing for children and reflects how important reading is to them. Morpurgo won the award in 2003 and held it till 2005. He firmly believes that children ought ' ... to discover and rediscover the secret pleasure that is reading, and to begin to find their voice in their own writing'.