I was listening to Radio 4, as I do most of the day, and the book program featured Michael Morpurgo, the former Children's Laureate, talking about his novel Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea. I've never read his work, but I am going to, because I was so very impressed with his uncondescending approach to the children in the audience. The excerpt he read, too, seemed to have achieved that really rare kind of clean prose that appeals to both children and adults. As an aspiring children's author, I was really inspired!