Michael Morpurgo
Born: 5th October 1943 (St Albans, Hertfordshire)
Movie Adaptations: War Horse; Why the Whales Came
Family: Morpurgo's real father was actor Tony Van Bridge, however Morpurgo's mother met Jack Morpurgo whilst Van Bridge was fighting in World War II.
Education: Mount House Boarding School (Devon) until the age of 13; and then The King's School (Canterbury)
Military: trained in the British Army at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.
Occupation: having graduated from King's College, London with a degree in French and English, he became a primary school teacher in Kent. In his late 20's he began writing and was inspired by the works of Ted Hughes to become an author.
Movie Adaptations: War Horse; Why the Whales Came
Family: Morpurgo's real father was actor Tony Van Bridge, however Morpurgo's mother met Jack Morpurgo whilst Van Bridge was fighting in World War II.
Education: Mount House Boarding School (Devon) until the age of 13; and then The King's School (Canterbury)
Military: trained in the British Army at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.
Occupation: having graduated from King's College, London with a degree in French and English, he became a primary school teacher in Kent. In his late 20's he began writing and was inspired by the works of Ted Hughes to become an author.
Key Themes in Morpurgo's Books
Simply put, the main areas covered continually in Morpurgo's stories for older children and young teens are:
- Tragedy, loss and grief
- Belief, trust and hope
- Early 20th Century World Wars and general military
- Rural village life
- Animals and wildlife
- Journey, travel and mystery
- Tragedy, loss and grief
- Belief, trust and hope
- Early 20th Century World Wars and general military
- Rural village life
- Animals and wildlife
- Journey, travel and mystery
Click on the first nine titles in this list to see the blurb... find out what these books are about and see whether you can identify any of the common themes in Morpurgo's stories. The rest of the blurbs will come soon...
Kensuke's Kingdom
Note that many of Michael Morpurgo's works have been reproduced by different publishers and therefore have different front covers- one interesting lesson you could do with a class is to compare and contrast the covers. Beforehand, you may want to read the blurbs on the back of the book cover and having discussed the key themes of Morpurgo's work, ask the children to design their own front covers.
