Michael Morpurgo,
OBE,
FRSL,
FKC,
DL (born 5 October 1943,
St Albans,
Hertfordshire) is an
English book author, poet, playwright, and
librettist who is known best for
children's novels such as
War Horse (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytelling", for recurring themes such as the triumph of an outsider or survival, for characters' relationships with nature, and for vivid settings such as the
Cornish coast or
World War I. Morpurgo became the third
British Children's Laureate, from 2003 to 2005.