Michael Morpurgo

Michael Morpurgo is, in his own words, "oldish, married with three children, and a grandfather six times over." Born in 1943, he attended schools in London, Sussex and Canterbury. He went on to London University to study English and French, followed by a step into the teaching profession and a job in a primary school in Kent. It was there that he discovered what he wanted to write. Over the years, he's contributed original children's literature in historical fiction, animal stories, fantasies, picture books, easy readers, and retellings of legend and myth. Often employing the rural setting he knows so well, he places his young protagonist in challenging situations that ultimately test their character.