Animal Magic: Four Stories of the Great Outdoors: From Michael Morpurgo, author of the international phenomenon WAR HORSE

by Michael Morpurgo, Peter Bailey (Illustrator), Christian Birmingham (Illustrator)

Four wonderful stories from the world of nature written by master storyteller, Michael Morpurgo.

"You have to breathe the world in deep, and all its creatures too ... become part of it."

Immerse yourself in the great outdoors and travel around the country in these four heart-warming modern fables. Join Michael, who spots a whale on the shores of the river Thames, Mrs Pettigrew in her railway carriage by the sea, Bonny who wishes to follow her dreams cycling along country lanes and a refugee named Ho who finds his voice working with horses in a Devon farmyard. These four nostalgic stories are thought-provoking, touching and inspiring and will linger in your mind, long after you turn the final page.

206 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 11, 2025

About the author

Sir Michael Andrew Morpurgo, OBE, FRSL is the author of many books for children, five of which have been made into films. He also writes his own screenplays and libretti for opera. Born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1943, he was evacuated to Cumberland during the last years of the Second World War, then returned to London, moving later to Essex. After a brief and unsuccessful spell in the army, he took up teaching and started to write. He left teaching after ten years in order to set up 'Farms for City Children' with his wife. They have three farms in Devon, Wales and Gloucestershire, open to inner city school children who come to stay and work with the animals. In 1999 this work was publicly recognised when he and his wife were invested a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to youth. In 2003, he was advanced to an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 2004. He was knighted in the 2018 for his services to literature and charity. He is also a father and grandfather, so children have always played a large part in his life. Every year he and his family spend time in the Scilly Isles, the setting for three of his books.