Former children’s laureate Michael Morpurgo ranks The Butterfly Lion as among the top three favourite novels he has penned.

And it is not surprising, since he drew on his own experience of when he ran away from boarding school for its opening scenes.

“I met an old lady who took me in and gave me hot tea and a sticky bun,” he says, as New Perspectives Theatre Company prepares to take a stage adaptation of his novel on the road.

“I was seven or eight but I have never forgotten that experience or forgotten her.”

The book uses the character of the old lady to transport its readers back in time as she tries to calm down an upset escapee by telling him a story of an enduring friendship.

“After a certain age, young people really don’t like stories that begin, ‘Once upon a time’,” he says. “I had to get the audience back to the First World War without them even knowing.”

Morpurgo’s story starts in the African veld when Bertie befriends a white lion. The pair are separated when Bertie is sent to boarding school and the lion is sold to a circus, but when the action transfers to the battlefields of First World War France, the old friends’ paths unexpectedly cross again.

The novel has been adapted by director Daniel Buckroyd, with former Duty Free star Gwen Taylor leading the cast.

Morpurgo was inspired by a story he read about a lion that was rescued from a French circus and brought back to the UK.

“I tend to use facts and history and weave my own story around it,” he says.

“The story of War Horse [which was turned into a critically acclaimed National Theatre production and Stephen Spielberg film] was inspired by stories of horses which survived the war and found their old masters again. Fiction just retells history in a different way.”

The First World War is a period Morpurgo has explored before – most famously with War Horse, but also with Private Peaceful, which was turned into a film last year.

“When I was a young writer, I happened to meet three old soldiers from the First World War,” says Morpurgo. “They are all gone now but they told me about being there. It made such an impression.”

Retelling history “The First World War was supposed to be the war to end all wars – there were millions killed on each side. It was a devastating, horrifying war but here we are with reports of gas being used in Syria.

“There were huge shells, bombs and machine guns which wreaked havoc. It’s almost a war that represents all wars – which is probably why I have written about it.”

There are dangers with writing about such an emotive subject.

“You have to be careful the readers don’t just want to close the book, but you don’t want them to be too fascinated,” he says. “You have to tell your story as straight as you can – how dismal it was for everyone who fought on all sides. You’re sharing with other people your own feelings about the pity and futility of war.

“We live in a world where young people see war on their television screens most evenings in some form or other. They need to see that when someone dies it’s somebody’s son, brother or husband. It’s important those things are talked about, and stories are the best way we have.”

A former teacher – following a brief stint in the Army – Morpurgo has an in-depth knowledge about what makes youngsters tick drawn from the classroom.

“It’s one of the best groundings you can have,” he says. “You get used to telling stories to children.

“I trained myself as a storyteller and writer by trying to understand their attention spans and what interests them. I could tell when they were bored through their body language.”

As well as his original works, Morpurgo has reinvented classic stories, ranging from The Pied Piper Of Hamelin to Aesop’s Fables.

“Old stories are the best,” he says. “Aesop’s Fables, Gawain And The Green Knight and Beowulf have all lasted hundreds of years because each generation retells it in their own way.

“You have to give something such as The Pied Piper a modern twist – otherwise it’s a man dressed up leading kids away never to be seen again, which gives people the shivers these days.

“You have to try to keep the heart and spirit of the story.”

With more than 100 books to his name, Morpurgo admits the flow of creativity may have slowed but isn’t about to stop.

“I used to be able to keep ideas up in the air like tossing eggs,” he says.

“There always seems to be another story queuing up to be written. Long may it continue!”

  • Michael Morpurgo’s The Butterfly Lion is also at Theatre Royal Brighton, in New Road, from Monday, November 11, to Saturday, November 16. Call 0844 8717650 for more information.