Michael Morpurgo is the former Children’s Laureate and best-selling author of over 150 books, including Private Peaceful, Kensuke’s Kingdom, The Butterfly Lion, and War Horse, which became a hugely successful production from the National Theatre and a movie by Steven Spielberg. In 1976, Michael and his wife, Clare, started the charity Farms for City Children which offers children and teachers from urban primary schools the chance to gain hands-on experience of the countryside . Michael received a Knighthood in 2018 for services to literature and charity.

Morpurgo is also President of BookTrust, the UK's largest children's reading charity. On 9 November 2023 Morpurgo was awarded an honorary doctorate at University of Plymouth, after writing almost all of his 150 books in the county of Devon.