About the author
Michael Morpurgo was born in 1943, and studied at London University. After university, he taught in a primary school, where each day he had to read a story to his pupils. Nobody was enthralled by this, neither Morpurgo nor the children, and instead he told them ‘the kind of story I used to tell my kids – it was like a soap opera, and they focused on it. I could see there was magic in it for them, and realised there was magic in it for me.’ Michael Morpurgo has now written over 90 children’s books, and was Children’s Laureate from 2003–2005.
He was a favourite of both my children, and has produced, in War Horse, one of the finest horse stories of recent years. The book has been turned into a play and film, and the Broadway version won the Best Play at the Tony Awards, 2011.
Finding the books
All the books are still in print. Reprints and secondhand copies are very easy to find, and not generally expensive. A first UK edition of War Horse would, now that it has reached such stratospheric success, be extremely expensive.
Sources and links
Michael Morpurgo’s website
Geoff Fox: Dear Mr Morpingo (Wizard, London, 2004)
Bibliography (pony books only)
War Horse
Kaye & Ward, London, 1982, 142 pp.
Greenwillow Books, New York, 1982, illus Derek James
Magnet, London, 1982, pb, 1983
Mammoth, London, 1999
Egmont, London, 2002, hb and pb, 2007
Egmont, London, 2004, illus Francois Place
Albert’s father buys a horse, Joey, but when the call comes for horses to fight at the front, Albert’s father sends Joey. Albert enlists, hoping he might find Joey.



Farm Boy
Pavilion, London, 1997
Harper Collins,1999, illus Michael Foreman
Joey and Albert’s histories are updated, and the family history carries on in the shape of Albert’s son and grandson.

Not Bad for a Bad Lad
Templar, 2010, illus Michael Foreman
The hero of Not Bad for a Bad Lad starts off as a typical lairy lad, but when school and he completely fail to gel, he soon turns to criminality. He is not the world’s most successful criminal, and is sent to Borstal. The Borstal he is sent to is also home to a stud of Suffolk Punch horses, and the horses prove to be his salvation.

SHORT STORIES
The White Horse of Zennor
Kay & Ward Ltd, London, 1982
Egmont Books Ltd, London, 2001, pb, 151 pp. Cover illustration Mark Bannerman
A book of short stories; the title story has an element of horse, but the whole collection is very well worth reading.
