Singing for Mrs Pettigrew: A Storymaker's Journey

The former Children's Laureate collects here a 'sponge-sandwich-cake book' - short stories, essays and commentaries to illustrate his approach to storytelling. He reveals that his inspiration is diverse and from many sources, including his own life, history, his own reading and from negative as well as positive experiences.

Morpurgo encourages writers of all ages to nurture the seeds of creativity we all hold within us, and strives to reassure those who find school an unfulfilling and unpleasant place, as he did.

He stresses that his approach is not the only one, but that within his recollections, and the stories which have been inspired by them, readers may understand how and why he writes, and be empowered to try for themselves.