Michael Morpurgo talks to Rosie Boycott

Come and celebrate with the much-loved author and former Children’s Laureate as he introduces a new edition of his 1979 diary of Parsonage Farm. All Around the Year was Morpurgo’s first book, and his early impressions of the English countryside grew into an undertaking that he describes as the best story of his life: the founding of Farms for City Children, a charity started with his wife Clare that has since enabled over 100,000 city children to spend a week in the countryside, living and working on a farm. The book includes poems by Ted Hughes, Morpurgo’s friend and neighbour, and is illustrated with photographs by James Ravilious, who spent most of his life documenting rural life in Devon. This new edition is published to mark Morpurgo’s 80th birthday.