HarperCollins Children’s Books renews with Michael Morpugo
HarperCollins Children’s Books is delighted to announce a new multi-book deal with master storyteller Michael Morpurgo. The deal for world rights, concluded by Executive Publisher Ann-Janine Murtagh and Veronique Baxter at David Higham, sees HarperCollins remain the principle home for Michael’s fiction until 2019.
Currently soaring in the Top 10 of the children’s bestseller chart with his most recent fiction novel Listen to the Moon, Michael Morpurgo is one of Britain’s best-loved writers for children. With a writing career that spans 4 decades, he has written over 100 books, selling more than 5 million copies in the UK and over 35 million worldwide. A former Children’s Laureate, Michael has won countless prizes, including the Smarties prize, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Whitbread Award, and was awarded an OBE for Services to Literature. Michael was also awarded an MBE in 1999, along with his wife Clare, in recognition of their work in founding Farms For City Children, a charity that has enabled 100,000 children to visit the charity’s 3 farms over the last 30 years.
Commenting on the deal, HarperCollins Executive Publisher Ann-Janine Murtagh said, “We are honoured to be the home of Michael Morpurgo and hugely look forward to publishing his future novels. Michael has written many of the classic children’s books of our time – and is unrivalled in his ability to tell stories that reach across time and appeal across generations. His new title An Eagle in the Snow is quintessentially Morpurgo in capturing a small moment in history and weaving it into a breathtaking, dramatic and moving story that will have readers gripped till the last page. Following on from the bestselling success of Listen to the Moon it speaks of an author who is writing at the very peak of his powers. Michael Morpurgo remains our nation’s favourite storyteller – and his stories now reach out to children across the globe. I feel so very lucky to have worked with Michael for over 20 years – and so look forward to many more years of wonderful books and exciting publishing ahead!”
