Spring

MICHAEL MORPURGO'S FIRST BOOK OF ADULT NON-FICTION IN FORTY YEARS.
A GUARDIAN AND TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2025

'Uplifting and enchanting. A celebration of life by our master story-teller.' JOANNA LUMLEY
'Spring is a delight. His love and knowledge of the countryside are profound. We are all the richer for what he sees.' PHILIP PULLMAN

And there, as I struggle to open the gate, I happen to glance down and see it. Frog spawn! Clumps of it, floating like grey slimy sponges on the surface of the puddle. I crouch down to be close to it, to the beginning of new life.

Michael Morpurgo has lived on a farm deep in rural Devon for more than forty years. In Spring, he observes the season unfold around him, as fragile new shoots emerge, buds turn to blossom and grey skies give way to blue.

As the natural world shakes off a long winter, Michael watches lambs being born on the farm, delights in a fanfare of bluebells in the woods, and sings to the birds, dressed in his wellies and dressing gown. He shares small moments of joy found in the back garden, as well as more dramatic encounters with sparrowhawks, hares and otters.

With new poems and reminiscences about childhood and springs gone by, this is an enchanting memoir of a season from one of the world's best-loved authors.

Michael Morpurgo is one of Britain's best-loved writers. He has written more than 100 books and has won the Smarties Prize, the Whitbread Award, and most recently the Blue Peter Book Award for PRIVATE PEACEFUL. He is also the author of WAR HORSE, which has been made into a Tony Award-winning Broadway play and a Golden Globe-nominated film. Michael was Writer in Residence at The Savoy Hotel from January to March 2007, and previously he was Children's Laureate from 2003-2005, a role that took him across Britain to inspire a love of reading in children.

Michael and his wife Clare founded Farms for City Children in 1976 at Nethercott Farm, deep in Devon river country, and Michael has called the project his 'greatest story'. The charity now operates three working farms: Treginnis Isaf on the Pembrokeshire coast opened twenty years ago and Wick Court in Gloucestershire opened in 1997. They aim to expand the horizons of children from towns and cities all over the country by offering them a week in the countryside living together on one of their farms.