Michael Morpurgo’s favourite farm and countryside books

There are many versions of this fairytale, but the original is by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen, published in 1843.

You can start with Peter Rabbit – the tale of naughty Peter who can’t resist going into Mr Macgregor’s Garden even though his poor father met a sticky end there! I was happy when BookTrust chose to give 500,000 little ones a Peter Rabbit book of their own in their Bookstart baby packs – find out about Four Happy Bunnies.

This is the tale of how a little girl named Fern – with the help of a friendly talking spider called Charlotte – saved her pig, Wilbur, from the usual fate of nice fat little pigs. 

When Farmer Hogget wins a piglet at the fair, he is amazed that Fly, his sheepdog, welcomes him as one of her own pups. Fly names the piglet Babe and teaches him all he needs to know about the farm and its animals. But does Babe know he’s a pig? I love this book. Also see the Sophie Stories by Dick King-Smith.

Published in the 1930s and starting with Little House in the Big Woods, the stories are based on her thrilling childhood growing up in the American midwest in the 1870s. You can learn a lot about country life in these books, even how to make maple syrup and cope in blizzards. 

Published in 1877, this book is the first of its kind to be written from the point of view of a horse, telling Black Beauty’s whole life story from being a happy foal on a farm to a very tough life pulling cabs in London. It may have even been an inspiration for my book War Horse! 

A beautiful book written in 1880 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, all about a young girl looked after by her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. You get to know Peter the goatherd and later Klara, a girl who is unable to walk and comes to live in the Alps with Heidi. 

First published in 1888 as part of a collection of bedtime stories, although it’s actually a bit sad for bedtime really!

This book was published in 1941 and it’s about Ken, the son of a Wyoming rancher, and his horse Flicka. It’s the first in a trilogy and became a wonderful film and TV series.