Poppy Field

A new illustrated story celebrating the poppy's history.

Michael Morpurgo and Michael Foreman have teamed up with the Royal British Legion to tell an original story that explains the meaning behind the poppy.

In Flanders' fields, young Martens knows his family's story, for it is as precious as the faded poem hanging in their home. From a poor girl comforting a grieving soldier, to an unexpected meeting of strangers, to a father's tragic death many decades after treaties were signed, war has shaped Martens's family in profound ways - it is their history as much as any nation's.

They remember.
They grieve.
They honour the past.

This book also includes a full-colour, illustrated afterword that explains the history that inspired the story.

Utterly essential. The stirring tale of the Remembrance Day poppy, told by the author of War Horse. In 1915, in war-torn Belgium, a soldier named John McCrae writes the famous poem In Flanders Fields. But neither he nor the local village girl who saves a discarded draft of it has any idea of the huge power it will exert on generations to come… Michael Morpurgo teams up once again with master illustrator Michael Foreman to tell a haunting story from the First World War trenches. And who better to tell it than this legendary duo? A story about remembrance. A book you’ll never forget.

• Publisher: ‎ Scholastic; 1st edition (4 Oct. 2018)
• Language: ‎ English
• Hardcover 
• 80 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎ 1407181424
• ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1407181424
• Reading age: ‎ 7 - 12+ years
• Dimensions: ‎ 27.9 x 22.1 x 0.47 cm

About the author;

Michael Morpurgo is one of Britain's best-loved children's book writers. He has written more than 100 books and has won the Smarties Prize, the Whitbread Award, and most recently the Blue Peter Book Award for PRIVATE PEACEFUL. He is also the author of WAR HORSE, which has been made into a Tony Award-winning Broadway play and a Golden Globe-nominated film. Michael was Writer in Residence at The Savoy Hotel from January to March 2007, and previously he was Children's Laureate from 2003-2005, a role that took him across Britain to inspire a love of reading in children