Wilberfoss Primary School

A few weeks ago, two of our Year 4 boys decided they wanted to write to Michael Murpurgo. And they were delighted to get a reply.

Well, now they’ve decided to respond to that reply…..

Dear Michael Morpurgo,

Thanks for replying to our letter. It is also summer here but it is almost always raining, although we do appreciate the good weather when it comes!
We hope we can see the shows that are on and we are looking forward to the rewriting of Pinocchio.
We hope you like the picture of us two in the school library, with one of your books.

From Harry and Sam.

Wow. Just Wow.

A few weeks ago, Harry & Sam, two of our Year 4 pupils wrote a letter to author Michael Murpurgo, telling him how much they enjoy his work. The letter can be seen here.

And Michael Murpurgo replied…..

Harry and Sam have the email, but we had to share it with you…..

Dear Harry and Samuel

Thanks so much for writing. It is summertime in Devon and I can see there’s a lot to look forward to in the year ahead, lots of festivals and plays and concerts and events all over the place. Keep an eye on the website if you’re interested in coming along to any of these. New ones for me will be the Tagore Festival at Dartington, the Bantry Festival in Ireland and the Kelmarsh Festival in Northamptonshire.

I’ve a couple of new books coming out this year – ‘Little Manfred’ – wonderfully illustrated by Michael Foreman (Harper Collins) is a story of friendship and reconciliation. It is to be launched at the Imperial War Museum in London in June as part of the Once Upon a Wartime exhibition at the museum – don’t miss it!

The other book to look out for is my version of ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’ (Walker Books), beautifully illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark . I love adapting and retelling old stories and legends and Emma and I have worked together on Hansel and Gretel as well ‘The Best of Times’ and ‘Aesop’s Fables’.

This year the play of ‘Private Peaceful’ is on tour round the country with a terrific actor Mark Quartley. ‘Billy the Kid’ comes on again at The Unicorn Theatre and there will be a new production of ‘Friend of Foe’ coming soon.

And of course there’s the play of ‘War Horse’ that gallops on at The New London Theatre and has now opened in New York on Broadway! And in October the National Army Museum is creating an exhibition around the book of War Horse which I know will be fantastic! I do hope that you will come and see it.

As I said, there’s an awful lot to look forward to. I’ve got some short stories and a retelling of Pinocchio to get on with which will keep me busy this summer.

Thank you again for writing. I love to hear from my readers – it makes it all worthwhile. Hope you like the picture of me enjoying the shade under a tree in Mycenae!