Dick’s First Book
Published on Thursday, January 10th, 2019
Many years ago, in 1976, when Dick was 54 years old, he started to write his first story for children, The Fox Busters. It was based on his experience of being a farmer twenty years earlier, when one day a daring fox had attacked and killed in broad daylight some fine white cockerels that Dick […]
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Amusing Animal Poems
Published on Thursday, December 13th, 2018
Dick wrote poetry throughout his life, much of it humorous. He once teamed up with the brilliant Quentin Blake to make a book called Alphabeasts. We absolutely love Quentin’s illustrations as they really help Dick’s poems come to life.
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The Queen’s Nose: A BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatisation
Published on Wednesday, November 21st, 2018
Dick’s enchanting story The Queen’s Nose, a tale about Harmony Parker and her magical 50 pence piece, has been adapted into a BBC radio full-cast dramatisation, which is now available to own! Harmony Parker is ten years old and loves animals. She longs for a pet of her very own, but her parents won’t allow […]
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Wilhelmina the Orphaned Badger Cub
Published on Monday, November 5th, 2018
Dick and his whole family were always very keen on animals. There were always lots of dogs, birds, some cats and various other pets at their family home. One day in around 1953, one of the family came across a badger cub that had fallen through the bars of a cattle grid near their home […]
Read MoreDick Reads The Sheep-Pig
Published on Monday, September 10th, 2018
Here’s some footage of Dick reading a chapter from The Sheep-Pig to a group of children at Farmborough Church Primary School near Bath, the school where Dick taught for seven years before becoming a children’s author. There are lots more videos of Dick and the films and television programmes based on his books on the […]
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Guess the Rabbit’s Weight
Published on Monday, August 20th, 2018
Dick used to keep rabbits and Frank, a French Lop breed (just visible in his hutch, munching his way through some greens) was a giant amongst them. Queen Charlton, the village in which Dick lived, holds an annual fête, and in 1983 Dick’s stall was a guess the rabbit’s weight competition. (reminiscent of how Babe […]
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Babe, The Sheep-Pig Theatre Production
Published on Wednesday, August 15th, 2018
“Whether you know the tale because of the film, or the book, or even if you don’t know the story at all, get yourself along to the Mercury for the big treat of the summer!” – Five star review from @British_Theatre #thatlldopig When Farmer Hoggett wins Babe, an orphaned piglet, at the village fair he […]
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Farmborough Church Primary School
Published on Sunday, July 29th, 2018
Dick King-Smith had many jobs before becoming a children’s author, including being a soldier, farmer, and primary school teacher. He taught at Farmborough Church Primary School near Bath for seven years, a job he very much enjoyed. After he became an author, he would regularly visit the school to read stories and talk to the […]
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Dick King-Smith’s love for poetry
Published on Wednesday, July 25th, 2018
Throughout his life, Dick loved to write poetry, and would often send humorous poems to his friends and family. Here’s one he wrote about his friend Jo and Jo’s dog Ben…
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An excerpt from Dick’s autobiography
Published on Wednesday, July 25th, 2018
An excerpt from Dick’s autobiography; Chewing the Cud – An unexpected life from farmyard to Hollywood. ‘Up until this point it had been an unremarkable farm dispersal sale. They had dealt with the machinery and the implements, and all the usual job-lots – old tins of paint or grease, bottles of medicine for stock, coils […]
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