A classic & heartfelt war story from War Horse author & former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo Escaping from China as the Japanese invade Ashley & Uncle Sung embark on a perilous journey across the Himalayas Then Ashley finds himself alone in the hostile mountains battling for his life He is just about to give up all hope when he has a mysterious & terrifying encounter Author of Private Peaceful & Friend or Foe Michael Morpurgo again demonstrates why he is considered to be the master storyteller with another of his beautifully crafted war stories In the tradition of Goodnight Mr Tom Carrie's War & The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas King of the Cloud Forests is a novel that takes children to the heart of a tumultuous period in history-- ---- Former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo needs no introduction He is one of the most successful children's authors in the country loved by children teachers & parents alike Michael has written more than forty books for children including the global hit War Horse which was made into a Hollywood film by Steven Spielberg in 2011 Several of his other stories have been adapted for screen & stage including My Friend Walter Why the Whales Came & Kensuke's Kingdom Michael has won the Whitbread Award the Smarties Award the Circle of Gold Award the Children's Book Award & has been short-listed for the Carnegie Medal four times He started the charity Farms for City Children in 1976 with his wife Clare aimed at relieving the poverty of experience many young children feel in inner city & urban areas Michael is also a patron of over a dozen other charities Living in Devon listening to Mozart & working with children have provided Michael with the ideas & incentive to write his stories He spends half his life mucking out sheds with the children feeding sheep or milking cows; the other half he spends dreaming up & writing stories for children For me the greater part of writing is daydreaming dreaming the dream of my story until it hatches out
- the writing down of it I always find hard But I love finishing it then holding the book in my hand & sharing my dream with my readers Michael received an OBE in December 2006 for his services to literature