Author whose book inspired Babe dies

Jan 07, 2011 |

London

British children’s author Dick King-Smith, whose novel The Sheep-Pig inspired the hit movie Babe, has died at the age of 88.
His publisher, Random House Children’s Books, said in a statement that the writer died in his sleep early on Tuesday morning at his home near Bath, about 100 miles west of London, after suffering from poor health in recently.

King-Smith was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II when he received an OBE in 2010 for his services to children’s literature.
The writer worked for 20 years as a farmer before he trained as a primary school teacher. In his 50s, he began to write his first story, The Fox Busters, about chickens taking their revenge on foxes. The book was published in 1978.
He has published over 100 books, mostly about animals and often about pigs, his favourite, which have sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. —AP

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