Born Michael Andrew Bridge in 1943, Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo is a British author, playwright, poet, and librettist. He’s best known for his children’s novels with “magical storytelling”, such as War Horse (1982).

His work often features themes such as vivid settings, like World War I or the Cornish coast, survival or triumph of an outsider, and characters’ relationship with nature. From 2003 to 2005, he became the third Children’s Laureate.

Source: https://www.michaelmorpurgo.com/.

Morpurgo’s Farms for City Children

Morpurgo and his wife, Clare, founded the charity Farms for Children in 1976 at Nethercott House in Devon. Welcoming approximately 3,200 children and 400 teachers every year across three farms, it provides urban children with “learning through doing” experience.

Wales, Gloucestershire, and Devon: children can live and work at one of the farms for a week, with over 100,000 children having visited since the farms opened. Nethercott House, the first farm in Devon, is a traditional mixed farm with dairy, sheep, and beef.

Wick Court on the River Severn is a Tudor manor house and livestock farm. Lower Treginnis in Wales is a 700-year old sheep farm located on the Pembrokeshire coast.

Private Peaceful

“Tonight, more than any night of my life, I want to feel alive.”

One of his most notable works, Private Peaceful is a story about Thomas “Tommo” Peaceful, a soldier looking back at his life overnight, as he awaits the firing squad at dawn. From adventures with the love of his life, Molly, to his exciting first days at school, battles and injustices that brought him to the front line, and the incident in the forest that killed his father – he’s has a short but eventful and joyful life.

Private Peaceful was published in 2003 for older children, winning the Blue Peter ‘Book of the Year’ Award. The play is recommended for children aged 8 and older.