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Michael Morpurgo is the current
Children's Laureate. He was born in St. Albans in Hertfordshire
in 1943. He went to school in London, Sussex and Canterbury,
his favourite subjects were rugby and cricket and geography.
Michael went on to study at university
in London before becoming a teacher for about ten years.
He now lives with his wife, Clare, in Devon and is the father
of three children and has four grandchildren.
He is probably one of the best-known
writers for children around today and has published over
90 books and several screenplays translated into 26 loanguages.
The Butterfly Lion, The Wreck of Zanzibar, Sam's Duck
and The War Horse, to name but a few, have all won
acclaim across the world.
Whilst teaching he realised that
many of his pupils had very little experience of animals
other than what they see on television, this gave Michael
and his wife the idea of setting up Farms for City Children.
They moved to Devon over thirty years ago to realise this
idea and now run three farms, one in Nethercott in Devon,
Treginnis in Wales and Wick in Gloucestershire, with over
2000 children a year staying for a week as 'farmers'.
Farms for city children is a registered
charity with the Princess Royal as its patron. In 1999 Michael
was awarded an MBE with his wife Clare for their charitable
work with Farms for City Children in the Queen's birthday
list for services to youth.
Michael has won numerous awards world-wide
including The Whitbread Children's Book of the Year, The
Writer's Guild Award, The Smarties Prize, The Children's
Book of the Year Award, The Cercle D'or and The Prix Sorciere
in France, The Best Book of the Year (A.L.A) in the USA
and The Silver Pencil in Holland.
Two of Michael's books have made
it onto screen. Why the Whales Came was made into a film
starring Helen Mirren and Out of the Ashes was adapted for
television. He was named as the Children's Laureate in May
2003.
Last updated May 2003.
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LINKS ON THIS SITE
Michael
Morpurgo Bibliography
LINKS ON THIS SITE
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