Morpurgo added: “Storymakers and storytellers like Barrie, and like all the previous winners of this award, have given us the hope and faith children need, we need, to keep flying, have sustained us through dark and troubled times, have banished doubt. To touch the lives of children, to witness their listening and reading silence, is reward enough in itself. This is simply the icing on the cake.” Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2021-02-24 11:01:28 Associated-names Foreman, Michael, 1938- Boxid IA40065116 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier Michael Morpurgo discovered his talent for writing while working as a teacher. “We had to read the children a story every day and my lot were bored by the book I was reading. I decided I had to do something and 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.”

The resource contains a range of challenging vocabulary, quality discussion questions and a choice of follow-up tasks for each section of the book. I have used it in my classroom following the Highland Literacy Project’s way of organising reading in the upper primary classroom. Children engage in reading 3 times per week: You can also read about his life in War Child to War Horse,a collaborative biography with Maggie Fergusson. He joined the army and enjoyed meeting new friends, but hated being shouted at. So, he left the army and started university at King’s College in London. A son and grandson of actors, Michael has acting in his blood and enjoys collaborating and performing live adaptations of his books at festivals, concerts and theatres. Morpurgo has written over 100 books, with several of his stories being made into both feature films and plays.In November 2016 Michael Morpurgo won the J M Barrie Award for his contribution to children’s literature.This award is given every year by Action for Children’s Arts to a “children’s arts practitioner” whose lifetime’s work has delighted children and will stand the test of time. After reading the story, Miya and her grandfather decide to travel to America to see where Robbie and Charlie lived.

As the years passed, Charlie's temperament naturally became wilder and more animalistic. Robbie noticed the change in Charlie and, reluctantly, let him go. He built a farm next to a lake where he occasionally saw Charlie. A couple years later, Robbie got married and had a son named Alan. The last time Robbie saw Charlie, Charlie had also started a family of his own.Michael Morpurgo is a master storyteller, weaving captivating stories full of drama and intensity that are coming to be regarded as true classics. Exploring the most profound subjects with a light yet powerful touch, his books tell unforgettable stories in simple, direct words. If your child likes historical books, you could try our review of The Little House In The Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.