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" I'm still not sure I want to be a writer. I think of myself as a storyteller more. "

Michael Morpurgo

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" I was brought up, as a lot of kids are, on 'Aesop's Fables,' 'Brothers Grimm,' 'La Fontaine,' all those sorts of things. Hans Christian Andersen is a hero of mine. "

Michael Morpurgo

" You get to about 65 or 70 and you lose friends and the world does seem to be an endlessly difficult place and tragic place, so it's more and more difficult for me to find the bright lights. "

Michael Morpurgo

" When I sit down I write very fast... if I haven't finished a book in two or three months then I think it's not going well. "

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" Animals are sentient, intelligent, perceptive, funny and entertaining. We owe them a duty of care as we do to children. "

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" I was an overly young father, is the most polite way of putting it. I think I was rather immature and all I can say is that I think I've made a much better grandfather... I don't think I was ready to be a father to be honest. "

Michael Morpurgo

" War continues to divide people, to change them forever, and I write about it both because I want people to understand the absolute futility of war, the 'pity of war' as Wilfred Owen called it. "

Michael Morpurgo

" Encouraging young people to believe in themselves and find their own voice whether it's through writing, drama or art is so important in giving young people a sense of self-worth. "

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" With all editing, no matter how sensitive - and I've been very lucky here - I react sulkily at first, but then I settle down and get on with it, and a year later I have my book in my hand. "

Michael Morpurgo

" It gives me confidence to know that what I'm writing has a veracity of its own without me having to invent it. When I'm writing fiction, I must believe it to be true, or I can see no point in it. "

Michael Morpurgo

" Access to books and the encouragement of the habit of reading: these two things are the first and most necessary steps in education and librarians, teachers and parents all over the country know it. It is our children's right and it is also our best hope and their best hope for the future. "

Michael Morpurgo

" Everyone is interested in war, in that people don't want it to happen. I'm much more interested in peace than in war but it's important to understand why we fight. "

Michael Morpurgo

" Children have to be motivated to want to learn to read. Reading must not be taught simply as a school exercise. "

Michael Morpurgo

" We all know that the great memories of our childhood are the little triumphs - it doesn't really matter whether that was in writing, art, on the hockey field or on the football field. It's something that makes you feel - 'I can do this stuff.' "

Michael Morpurgo

" Perhaps it is partly that we need to love books ourselves as parents, grandparents and teachers in order to pass on that passion for stories to our children. It's not about testing and reading schemes, but about loving stories and passing on that passion to our children. "

Michael Morpurgo

" Don't worry about writing a book or getting famous or making money. Just lead an interesting life. "

Michael Morpurgo

" I think there's something about studying a book which will kill it if you're not careful. "

Michael Morpurgo

" Always write your ideas down however silly or trivial they might seem. Keep a notebook with you at all times. "

Michael Morpurgo

" Strange questions are the more interesting ones. Children by and large don't try to trip you up... they want to find out how you do this funny thing that you do... if they've loved a story they love to know how it started. "

Michael Morpurgo

" You know, I really wish now I'd had the nerve to become an actor. Because I'd have been Robert Redford, no question. "

Michael Morpurgo

" I write fiction. I make things up, it's what I do. "

Michael Morpurgo

" A notion for a story is for me a confluence of real events, historical perhaps, or from my own memory to create an exciting fusion. "

Michael Morpurgo

" When I was growing up in the Forties and Fifties, you could hide your children from the difficulties of life, but today you can't separate children's contact with the adult world today. "

Michael Morpurgo

" The most important thing is to live an interesting life. Keep your eyes, ears and heart open. Talk to people and visit interesting places, and don't forget to ask questions. To be a writer you need to drink in the world around you so it's always there in your head. "

Michael Morpurgo

" It is the child's understanding that teaches the adults the way of the future. They're still doing it today with modern technology. "

Michael Morpurgo

" A lot of children, like I did, move away from words because of the fear - which is something you have to take out of education: the fear of worrying about what marks you'll get, detention, worrying about letting people down, your parents, teachers. "

Michael Morpurgo

" Books that kids read should be about what is going on in the world. "

Michael Morpurgo

" I got married young, far too young, but it is fine. We are still married 48 years later. I got married at 19. "

Michael Morpurgo

" It is really important that focusing on things such as spelling, punctuation, grammar and handwriting doesn't inhibit the creative flow. When I was at school there was a huge focus on copying and testing and it put me off words and stories for years. "

Michael Morpurgo

" When children are very young, you read them books that are positive to help them go to sleep. But there comes a moment when they begin to understand the difficulties of the world. They know there are problems and the books they read should reflect that, not gloss over them. "

Michael Morpurgo

" It's the teacher that makes the difference, not the classroom. "

Michael Morpurgo