Michael Morpugo is the third Children's Laureate, and is one of the most well-known and best-loved of children's authors. He has written over ninety books, short stories, screenplays and two musicals, and has won many prizes, both here and in Europe, including the Whitbread Award for The Wreck of the Zanzibar, the Children's Book Award for Kensuke's Kingdom, and the Writers' Guild Award and the Smarties Prize for The Butterfly Lion.