The Sheep-pig is one of Dick King-Smith's most famous tales It shot to further fame when the film adaptation Babe was released in 1995 ' Why can't I learn to be a Sheep-Pig?' When Babe the little orphaned piglet is won at a fair by Farmer Hogget he is adopted by Fly the kind-hearted sheep-dog Babe is determined to learn everything he can from Fly He knows he can't be a sheep-dog But maybe just maybe he might be a sheep-pig' An unexpectedly thrilling funny charmer of a book'
- Guardian' Dick King-Smith is a huge favourite with children'
- Observer Winner of the Guardian Fiction Award Dick King-Smith served in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War & afterwards spent twenty years as a farmer in Gloucestershire the country of his birth Many of his stories are inspired by his farming experiences He wrote a great number of children's books including The Sheep-Pig (winner of the Guardian Award & filmed as Babe) Harry's Mad Noah's Brother The Queen's Nose Martin's Mice Ace The Cuckoo Child & Harriet's Hare (winner of the Children's Book Award in 1995) In 2009 he was made an OBE for services to children's literature Dick King-Smith died in 2011 at the age of eighty-eight