Books with author Michael Morpurgo

A heartwarming tale of courage and warmth, set against the backdrop of the second world war, about a cat who survives against the odds.Read by Jenny Agutter and the author."Something's up. Something big too, very big. At school, in the village, whoever you meet, it's all anyone talks about. It's like a sudden curse has come down on us all. It makes me wonder if we'll ever see the sun again."It's 1943, and Lily Tregenze lives on a farm, in the idyllic seaside village of Slapton. Apart from her father being away, and the 'townie' evacuees at school, her life is scarcely touched by the war. Until one day, Lily and her family, along with 3000 other villagers, are told to move out of their homes – lock, stock and barrel.Soon, the whole area is out of bounds, as the Allied forces practise their landings for D-day, preparing to invade France. But Tips, Lily's adored cat, has other ideas – barbed wire and keep-out signs mean nothing to her, nor does the danger of guns and bombs. Frantic to find her, Lily makes friends with two young American soldiers, who promise to help her. But will she ever see her cat again? Lily decides to cross the wire into the danger zone to look for Tips herself…Now, many years later, as Michael is reading his Grandma Lily's diary, he learns about The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips – and wonders how one adventurous cat could still affect their lives sixty years later.

Alfie lives off the coast of England. Merry lives in New York City. Until Merry and her mother set sail on theLusitania for England, where Merry's father is recuperating from a war injury. People told them not to go, hearing rumors that the Lusitania might be carrying munitions. But they are desperate to be reunited with Merry's father. Alfie and his father find a lost girl in an abandoned house on a small island. The girl doesn't speak, except to say what sounds like "Lucy." Alfie's mother nurses her back to health. The others in the village suspect the unthinkable: Lucy is actually German-an enemy-because she's found with a blanket with a German tag. Told from Alfie and Merry's points of view, this exquisite novel tells of friends, enemies, and unexpected kindnesses.

Award-winning children's writer and former United Kingdom Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo has collected the greatest magical stories and put them all together for your reading pleasure.From tiny heroes and talking frogs to meddling fairies and mysterious sea creatures, all the wonders of the magical world are right here. This timeless collection will be treasured forever by children looking for something magical to read alone or to share. Stories include "The Frog Prince," "Rumpelstiltskin," "Sleeping Beauty," and more. Strikingly illustrated and charmingly retold, there are lots of great stories from around the world that children will explore and enjoy.

This is a fictional account of the day a whale swam up the Thames, in which the whale makes an environmental plea to the boy who first sees him.At sunrise, young Michael spots a whale on the shores of the Thames and thinks he must be dreaming. But the creature is real and it has a message for him - one that only an open-minded child can deliver to the rest of the world. The whale warns that the earth's days are numbered and that humans must put right the damage they are doing, but how can Michael fulfil his promise to tell others when neither his teacher nor his classmates will believe his story? Within hours, the city and the wider world have learned of London's remarkable visitor, and all eyes are on the whale's struggle against the receding tide. Michael must now join his new friend in a race against time to reach the ocean, and hold fast to his promise in the race to save the world itself.

Special Enhanced ebook edition with video foreword and ‘behind the story’ interview with Michael Morpurgo.“All my life I’ll think of you, I promise I will. I won’t ever forget you.”A lyrical and moving tale of a young boy growing up in Africa, and his lifelong friendship with a white lion.Bertie rescues an orphaned lion cub from the African veld. They are inseparable until Bertie is sent to boarding school far away in England and the lion is sold to a circus. Bertie swears that one day they will see one another again, but it is the butterfly lion which ensures that their friendship will never be forgotten.

A classic and heartfelt war story from War Horse author and former Children's Laureate, Michael Morpurgo.Escaping from China as the Japanese invade, Ashley and Uncle Sung embark on a perilous journey across the Himalayas. Then Ashley finds himself alone in the hostile mountains, battling for his life. He is just about to give up all hope, when he has a mysterious and terrifying encounter . . .Author of Private Peaceful and Friend or Foe, Michael Morpurgo again demonstrates why he is considered to be the master storyteller with another of his beautifully crafted war stories. In the tradition of Goodnight Mr Tom, Carrie's War, and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, King of the Cloud Forests is a novel that takes children to the heart of a tumultuous period in history.------Former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo needs no introduction. He is one of the most successful children's authors in the country, loved by children, teachers and parents alike. Michael has written more than forty books for children including the global hit War Horse, which was made into a Hollywood film by Steven Spielberg in 2011. Several of his other stories have been adapted for screen and stage, including My Friend Walter, Why the Whales Came and Kensuke's Kingdom. Michael has won the Whitbread Award, the Smarties Award, the Circle of Gold Award, the Children's Book Award and has been short-listed for the Carnegie Medal four times. He started the charity Farms for City Children in 1976 with his wife, Clare, aimed at relieving the “poverty of experience” many young children feel in inner city and urban areas. Michael is also a patron of over a dozen other charities. Living in Devon, listening to Mozart and working with children have provided Michael with the ideas and incentive to write his stories. He spends half his life mucking out sheds with the children, feeding sheep or milking cows; the other half he spends dreaming up and writing stories for children. "For me, the greater part of writing is daydreaming, dreaming the dream of my story until it hatches out - the writing down of it I always find hard. But I love finishing it, then holding the book in my hand and sharing my dream with my readers." Michael received an OBE in December 2006 for his services to literature.

The bedlam of battle had begun. All around me men cried and fell to the ground, and horses reared and screamed in an agony of fear and pain. The shells whined and roared overhead, and every explosion seemed like an earthquake to us. A stunning wartime classic. In the deadly chaos of the First World War, one horse witnesses the reality of battle from both sides of the trenches. Bombarded by artillery, with bullets knocking riders from his back, Joey tells a powerful story of the truest friendships surviving in terrible times. One horse has the seen the best and the worst of humanity. The power of war and the beauty of peace. This is his story. From Michael Morpurgo, former children's laureate, come this thrilling and epic tale of one horse's journey through the trenches First World War. Now adapted by Steven Spielberg as a major motion picture, and shown on stage in London's West End and also on Broadway.

A set of five haunting, enchanting tales from the master storyteller behind War Horse Since the beginning of time, strange and mysterious things have happened here. There are stories from the past of mermaids and spriggans and knockers and witches. The stories in this book however do not come from the past. They have all happened in my lifetime. At the furthest edge of Britain, where the sea gently washes over the land and myths brush against reality, lies Zennor. Since the beginning of time strange and mysterious things have happened there, and these stories highlight all the most haunting and enchanting events. Once a year, on a misty fall night, there is a pounding of hoof beats as a great white horse comes thundering over the moor in the moonlight. Then there are the old tin miners that Cherry meets when she is cut off by the incoming tide, as well as limping Billy who learns to swim with the seals. The proud Thomas Barbery and the intriguing Mad Miss Marney also add their own stories to this unforgettable collection.