British author Dick King-Smith dies aged 88

London, Jan 6, DPA:

Best-selling British children's author Dick King-Smith, whose novel ''The Sheep-Pig'' inspired the 1995 hit film ''Babe'', has died at the age of 88, his agent said Wednesday.

Dick-Smith, who often featured animals in his work, published his first book, "The Fox Busters", in 1978. He went on to write more than 100 books, including "The Invisible Dog", "Harriet the Hare", "The Queen's Nose" and the "Water Horse".

Many were adapted for TV but it was the film "Babe" that brought him international fame in the mid-1990s.

King-Smith, who fought as a soldier in Italy in World War II, was a farmer for 20 years before he took up writing when he was in his 50s.