English children's author whose 1983 work, The Sheep-Pig, was later adapted into the popular film Babe. His more than a hundred other works for children include Tumbleweed, Cuckoobush Farm, The Finger Eater, Mr. Ape, and the Sophie series.
He served in Italy during World War II and worked as a farmer for two decades. He published his first children's book, The Fox Busters, in 1978.
He won the 1984 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for The Sheep-Pig.
He had three children and was married twice. He wed Zona Bedding in 2001, a year after the death of his first wife, Myrle.
His 1978 work, The Fox Busters, was adapted into an animated TV series starring Whoopi Goldberg.
