''Matt looked down at the ground as he spoke. 'I'm going to be a clown, Olly, I mean a real clown. And now I know where I'm going to do it. I'm going where my swallows go. I'm going to Africa.''

As Olly waits for her brother's letters, she watches the swallows preparing to leave for Africa. Hero, the one they have saved from the cat, is the last to leave.'

Hero starts his long journey to Africa not knowing the terrible dangers he will meet on the way, where storms, birds of prey, snakes, nets and sheer exhaustion will threaten to end his young life.

When Matt sees the children in the African orphanage – sick, injured and lonely – he knows he's made the right decision, but he never could have dreamt of what was going to happen to him there…

A story in three movements, told by three voices – a lyrical tale of family, love and determination.

Michael Morpurgo OBE is one of Britain's best-loved writers for children, and has sold more than 35 million books around the world. He has written more than 150 novels and won many prizes, including the Smarties Prize, the Whitbread Award and the Blue Peter Book Award, while several of his books have been adapted for stage and screen, including the global theatrical phenomenon War Horse. Michael was Children’s Laureate from 2003 to 2005, and founded the charity Farms for City Children with his wife, Clare. He was knighted in 2018 for services to literature and charity.