Dick King-Smith was a Gloucestershire farmer until the age of 45, when he gave up farming to become a primary school teacher. Now a bestselling full-time author, his work has received many awards including a Bronze Medal for the Smarties Prize of 1997 for All Because of Jackson and the Children's Book Award in 1995 for Harriet's Hare. In 1992, he was also voted Children's Author of the Year. In 1995, his top-selling title The Sheep-Pig was developed into a box-office movie, BABE, introducing hundreds of thousands of youngsters to his work.