Babe creator Dick King-Smith dies aged 88  Prolific author of
'farmyard fantasies' for children, whose book The Sheep-Pig was
adapted into Hollywood hit, passes away at home Dick King-Smith
Dick King-Smith  Children's author Dick King-Smith, whose much-
loved tale The Sheep-Pig was adapted into the hit film Babe, has
died at the age of 88, at home in his sleep.  After fighting in
Italy with the Grenadier Guards in the second world war, King-
Smith was a farmer for 20 years before turning to teaching and
came to writing late in life. His first book, The Fox Busters,
was published in 1978 when he was in his 50s. He went on to
write more than 100 books, most of which drew on his knowledge
of farms and animals because "I like them, I've always kept a
lot of pets, and because it's fun putting words in their
mouths". King-Smith called this genre of speaking-animal stories
"farmyard fantasy" and often wrote about pigs, his favourite
animals. One of his early popular books, Saddlebottom, featured
a porcine hero, much s