Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo, OBE, FRSL (né Bridge; born 5 October 1943) is an English author, poet, playwright, and librettist known best for children's novels such as War Horse (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytelling", recurring themes such as the triumph of an outsider or survival, characters' relationships with nature, and vivid settings such as the Cornish coast or the trenches of the First World War.

Michael Morpurgo served as the third Children's Laureate from 2003 to 2005 and is President of BookTrust, a children's reading charity. He has written many books for children, five of which have been adapted into films. Apart from writing, he also writes screenplays and libretti for opera.

Born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1943, Michael was evacuated to Cumberland during the latter years of the Second World War, before returning to London and later moving to Essex. After an unsuccessful stint in the army, he became a teacher and began writing. After ten years, he left teaching to establish "Farms for City Children" with his wife, which includes three farms in Devon, Wales, and Gloucestershire, open to inner-city school children to stay and work with the animals.