What do readers find compelling about Michael Morpurgo's books?

What do readers find compelling about 

Michael Morpurgo's books?

Michael Morpurgo is an English author famous for his writings of ‘Private Peaceful’ and ‘War Horse.’ He is also well known for his children’s novels and many of the other wonderful books he has written. He has been presented with a number of awards for his writing, such as, Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL), an Order of the British Empire (OBE) and many others. Michael Morpurgo was born in 1943 two years before World War II ended. Many of the books he has written illustrate with words the different aspects of war and the effects they have on both sides. He mentions in a YouTube video that,

“…with any war story, is to write about the possibility of hope, the possibility of a time where there isn’t a war…they are not really about war but for a hope for peace”

When listening to the audiobook ‘Shadow’ and listening to the boy Aman tell his story you get completely drawn into how Aman's life outside of the Western world is completely different to ours, as his is a fight for survival. It is a story about a young boy, his mother and a Springer Spaniel called Shadow. The book tells the story of their suffering journey to flee their native home of Afghanistan to freedom in England, where they are to live for six years only find out they have been denied asylum. They are to be deported back to their non-existent lives back in Afghanistan, until Aman tells his dreadful story to his best friend's grandfather only to hope that his story will be heard and he and his family will be allowed to stay in England.

Book by Michael Morpurgo - Shadow

Readers find Michael Morpurgo's books compelling because they bring a sense of realism to them. When you read or listen to the books, and this could be any of Michael Morpurgo's books from the picture books for children to all of his fictional books, you are able to really imagine what he is trying to say and make you feel. The books are gripping from the first word and make you want to keep reading. A number of the books show people in their everyday lives and the troubles they go through, making you want to keep reading to see how their lives pan out; whether it is for the better or worse. The reader can relate the stories to real life which makes each of his books more powerful and moving.

Michael Morpurgo's picture books for children are informative about the world around us, for example, the book ‘This Morning I Met a Whale’ is about a whale who makes an environmental plea to a boy about how humans need to put right what they have done to the earth, as the earth's days are numbered (Morpurgo, 2014); thus informing younger generations about environmental impacts.

References

Michael Morpurgo. (2013). Michael Morpurgo Month: War. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_EOE2A1kYk#t=214. Last accessed 4th October 2014

Michael Morpurgo. (2014). Michael Morpurgo Stories for Everyone.Available: http://michaelmorpurgo.com/all-books. Last accessed 4th October 2014.