Sir Michael Morpurgo

Children's Laureate 2003-05

Sir Michael Morpurgo is an award-winning writer who believes in 'literature over literacy' and has written scores of imaginative and suspenseful books for children.

20th anniversary celebrations: read Michael Morpurgo's letter

The award-winning children's writer Michael Morpurgo worked as a teacher for ten years before leaving to set up Farms for City Children with his wife Clare. They were both awarded the MBE for services to youth in 1999, and Michael Morpurgo went on to receive a knighthood in the 2017 New Year's Honours list. 

They now have three farms in Devon, Wales and Gloucestershire, which are open to inner city school children.

Michael is also the author of many books for children, including The Wreck of the Zanzibar, which won the Whitbread Children's Book Award (1995), The Butterfly Lion, which won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Gold Award, 1996), Kensuke's Kingdom, which won the Children's Book Award (2000) and Private Peaceful, which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book Award (2004) and Carnegie Medal (2004).

Michael is also a three-times winner of the Prix Sorcière (France) for King of the Cloud Forests (1993), Wombat Goes Walkabout (1999) and Kensuke's Kingdom (2001) and has twice won the Red House Children's Book Award for Kensuke's Kingdom (2000) and Private Peaceful (2004).

Five of his books have been made into films and My Friend Walter and Out of the Ashes were both adapted for television.

Sir Michael Morpurgo also writes his own screenplays and libretti for opera.

In 2003, Sir Michael Morpurgo became the third Children's Laureate, a scheme he helped to establish with the late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes to reward a lifetime contribution to children's literature and highlight the importance of the role of children's books.

War Horse was "discovered" by National Theatre associate director Tom Morris during Michael Morpurgo’s laureateship. The book subsequently became a Broadway and a film by Steven Spielberg. 

Goals as Waterstones Children's Laureate

As Children's Laureate, Michael was keen to assert that 'literature comes before literacy' and encourage all children '...to discover and rediscover the secret pleasure that is reading, and to begin to find their voice in their own writing'. 

He went on to tour extensively while he was Children's Laureate:

'I wanted to remind people of all ages of the power of stories.'

20th anniversary celebrations: read Michael Morpurgo's letter