Michael Morpurgo
Michael Morpurgo har skrevet mere end 95 bøger, heriblandt Why the Whales Came, som blev lavet til en stor spillefilm og My Friend Walter, som er blevet filmatiseret af Thames Television. I 2000 vandt han "The Childrens Book Award" for bogen Kensuke's Kingdom, og han var blandt favoritterne til "Whitbread Children's Book Award"og "Carnegie Medal" i 2000 . For nyligt fik han anmeldernes anerkendelse for sin bog Out of Ashes - en rørende roman om fod- og mundkrisen, som blevet rettet mod tv. Hans seneste bog Private Peaceful blev udgivet i efteråret 2003. Den vandt for nyligt "2004 Red House Children's Book Award", som er en pris udelukkende stemt på af børn.

Michael Morpurgo udtaler:
"There never was a better ambassador for storytelling than Hans Christian Andersen. So to be an Ambassador myself for this great celebration is a huge honour for me. As Children's Laureate I want to encourage as many people as I can to read stories, and to write them too. The stories of Hans Christian Andersen are so good that they seem not to have been written at all, but simply to have grown out of all our storytelling traditions. He is truly the Shakespeare of storytelling."