Michael Morpurgo is the award-winning author of more than 150 books, including Private Peaceful, Kensuke's Kingdom and War Horse, which became the most successful play in the National Theatre's history and a Golden Globe-nominated film directed by Steven Spielberg. He has won many literary prizes, including the Smarties Prize, the Writers' Guild Award, the Whitbread Award, and the Eleanor Farjeon Lifetime Achievement Award. Michael was Children's Laureate from 2003-2005, a role that took him across Britain to inspire a love of reading in children.

Michael and his wife Clare founded Farms for City Children in 1976 at Nethercott Farm in Devon, and Michael has called the project his 'greatest story'. They aim to expand the horizons of children from towns and cities all over the country by offering them a week in the countryside living together on one of their farms.