Sir Michael Morpurgo (born 5 October 1943) is an English author, poet and playwright best known for children’s novels such as “War Horse”, “Private Peaceful” and “Kensuke’s Kingdom”. He was the third Children’s Laureate, from 2003 to 2005, and is President of the reading charity BookTrust.
He was born Michael Bridge in St Albans, the son of the actors Tony Van Bridge and Kippe Cammaerts, and took the surname of his stepfather, Jack Morpurgo. He was sent to boarding school in Sussex at seven and later attended the King’s School, Canterbury. After nine months at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst he left the army, studied at King’s College London and became a primary school teacher in Kent, where he says he discovered his vocation.
In 1976 Morpurgo and his wife Clare founded Farms for City Children, a charity that gives inner-city children a week of work on a farm and now has farms in Wales, Devon and Gloucestershire. Ted Hughes, a neighbour and mentor, was its first president, and the two men later originated the idea of the Children’s Laureate.
His early books include “Friend or Foe” (1977), and “War Horse” followed in 1982 from Kaye & Ward, with a sequel, “Farm Boy”, in 1997. His stories often turn on survival, outsiders and the bond between people and animals, in settings such as the Cornish coast or the trenches of the First World War. “The Wreck of the Zanzibar” won the Whitbread Children’s Book Award in 1995, “The Butterfly Lion” the Smarties Prize in 1996, and “Private Peaceful” (2003) the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award.
Nick Stafford’s stage version of “War Horse” opened at the National Theatre in 2007 with life-sized horse puppets by the Handspring Puppet Company, and its Broadway production won five Tony Awards. Steven Spielberg directed the 2011 film. “Private Peaceful” (2012), “Waiting for Anya” (2020) and “Kensuke’s Kingdom” (2023) have also been filmed.
Morpurgo was knighted in the 2018 New Year Honours. His recent books include “Cobweb” and “Finding Alfie: A D-Day Story” (both 2024), “Spring: The Story of a Season” and the collection of reflections “Funny Thing, Getting Older” (both 2025), and “Down Burrow Lane” (2026), a memoir of the family’s Devon farm.
Publication Order of War Horse Books
| War Horse | 1982 |
| Farm Boy | 1997 |
Publication Order of Mudpuddle Farm Books
| Mossop’s Last Chance (With: Shoo Rayner) | 1988 |
| Albertine, Goose Queen (With: Shoo Rayner) | 1989 |
| Jigger’s Day Off (With: Shoo Rayner) | 1990 |
| And Pigs Might Fly! (With: Shoo Rayner) | 1991 |
| Martians at Mudpuddle Farm (With: Shoo Rayner) | 1992 |
| Mum’s the Word (With: Shoo Rayner) | 1995 |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| Long Way Home | 1975 |
| Friend or Foe | 1977 |
| The Nine Lives of Montezuma | 1980 |
| Miss Wirtles’ Revenge | 1981 |
| Twist of Gold | 1983 |
| Little Foxes | 1984 |
| Why the Whales Came | 1985 |
| Tom’s Sausage Lion | 1986 |
| King of the Cloud Forests | 1987 |
| My Friend Walter | 1988 |
| Mr. Nobody’s Eyes | 1989 |
| Waiting for Anya | 1990 |
| The Sandman and the Turtles | 1991 |
| The War of Jenkins’ Ear | 1993 |
| Arthur, High King of Britain | 1994 |
| The Dancing Bear | 1994 |
| The Wreck of the Zanzibar | 1995 |
| The Butterfly Lion | 1996 |
| The Ghost of Grania O’Malley | 1996 |
| Robin of Sherwood / Outlaw: The Story of Robin Hood | 1996 |
| Red Eyes at Night | 1997 |
| Joan of Arc / Sparrow: The True Story of Joan of Arc | 1998 |
| Escape from Shangri-La | 1998 |
| Wartman | 1998 |
| Kensuke’s Kingdom | 1999 |
| Billy the Kid | 2000 |
| Black Queen | 2000 |
| Dear Olly | 2000 |
| Who’s a Big Bully Then? | 2000 |
| Toro! Toro! | 2001 |
| Out of the Ashes | 2001 |
| The Last Wolf | 2002 |
| The Sleeping Sword | 2002 |
| Cool! | 2002 |
| Mr. Skip | 2002 |
| Private Peaceful | 2003 |
| Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | 2004 |
| The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips | 2005 |
| I Believe in Unicorns | 2005 |
| Alone on a Wide Wide Sea | 2006 |
| Beowulf | 2006 |
| Born to Run | 2007 |
| The Mozart Question | 2007 |
| Kaspar: Prince of Cats | 2008 |
| Running Wild | 2009 |
| The Kites Are Flying! | 2009 |
| An Elephant in the Garden | 2010 |
| Shadow | 2010 |
| Not Bad for a Bad Lad | 2010 |
| Little Manfred | 2011 |
| A Medal for Leroy | 2012 |
| Listen to the Moon | 2014 |
| Half a Man | 2014 |
| An Eagle in the Snow | 2016 |
| The Fox and the Ghost King | 2016 |
| Lucky Button | 2017 |
| Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz | 2017 |
| Flamingo Boy / The Day the World Stopped Turning | 2018 |
| In the Mouth of the Wolf | 2018 |
| Boy Giant: Son of Gulliver | 2019 |
| The Puffin Keeper | 2020 |
| When Fishes Flew: The Story of Elena’s War | 2021 |
| Flying Scotsman and the Best Birthday Ever | 2022 |
| Finding Alfie: A D-Day Story | 2024 |
| Cobweb | 2024 |
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
| It Never Rained: Five Stories | 1974 |
| The Marble Crusher and Other Stories | 1980 |
| The White Horse of Zennor and Other Stories | 1982 |
| From Hereabout Hill | 2000 |
| Singing for Mrs Pettigrew: A Story-Maker’s Journey | 2006 |
Publication Order of Children’s Books
| Thatcher Jones | 1975 |
| Jo-Jo the Melon Donkey | 1987 |
| Conker | 1989 |
| Colly’s Barn | 1991 |
| Snakes and Ladders | 1994 |
| Blodin the Beast | 1995 |
| Sam’s Duck | 1996 |
| Wombat Goes Walkabout | 1999 |
| The Rainbow Bear | 1999 |
| The Silver Swan | 2000 |
| Gentle Giant | 2003 |
| On Angel Wings | 2006 |
| This Morning I Met a Whale | 2008 |
| The Pied Piper of Hamelin | 2011 |
| Homecoming | 2012 |
| Where My Wellies Take Me (With: Clare Morpurgo) | 2012 |
| Beauty and the Beast | 2013 |
| The Goose Is Getting Fat | 2013 |
| Pinocchio by Pinocchio | 2013 |
| All I Said Was | 2014 |
| Mini Kid | 2014 |
| The Giant’s Necklace | 2016 |
| Grandpa Christmas | 2018 |
| Carnival of the Animals | 2021 |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| Such Stuff: A Story-Maker’s Inspiration | 2016 |
| Spring: The Story of a Season | 2025 |
| Funny Thing, Getting Older: And Other Reflections | 2025 |
| Down Burrow Lane | 2026 |
Photo: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).