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Acclaimed children’s author Sir Michael Morpurgo has made his latest story available to all during lockdown.

His latest work is part of a wider project aimed to provide comfort, especially to children, as lockdown continues, and hopefully inspire others to enjoy the love of reading.

The War Horse author and former Children’s Laureate has been filmed reading A Song of Gladness from the garden of his home in Iddesleigh, Devon, for the ±«Óătv regional news programme Spotlight. You can see the reading in the film below.

Sir Michael Morpurgo reads A Song of Gladness

It tells of a blackbird who is inspired to sing a special song. The idea sweeps around the globe, with creatures on all continents joining in and, eventually, humans too.

A Song of Gladness is one story on The Book of Hopes, a project involving more than 100 well known authors and illustrators. The collection of writings and poems is dedicated to the key workers fighting the Covid-19 pandemic in hospitals and can be seen on the Literacy Trust website.

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