*Dick King-Smith was born and raised in Gloucestershire, England, surrounded by pet animals. After twenty years as a farmer, he turned to teaching and then to writing children's books.
*Dick writes mostly about animals: farmyard fantasy, as he likes to call it, often about pigs, his special favorites. He enjoys writing for children, meeting the children who read his books, and knowing that they get enjoyment from what he does.
*Among his well-loved books is Babe, The Gallant Pig , which was recently made into a major motion picture, and was nominated for an Academy Award.
*Dick currently lives with his wife in a small 17th-century cottage, about three miles from the house where he was born. - (Random House, Inc.)
ear-old Kirstie and her family go beach coming near their home in Scotland, she finds something that looks like a giant fish egg, and is just too interesting to leave on the beach. So she brings it home and sneaks it into the bathtub overnight. The next morning, she is surprised to find that the egg has hatched, but the newborn is unlike anything anyone has seen before. With a long neck, head like a horse, skin like a toad's, flippers like a turtle, and a tail like a crocodile, her brother Angus declares it a monster. Grandfather knows better and tells them it's a kelpie, or what he calls a water horse. The family keeps the baby and names it Crusoe. But as Crusoe grows, he becomes a bigger and bigger problem--literally. They are forced to find him a new home, away from people and boats. They settle on a beautiful Loch, now known as Loch Ness. From the author of beloved Babe comes the soon-to-be-classic story of how--thanks to the love and kindness of the human family that raises him--the Lo - (Random House, Inc.)