Sir Michael Morpurgo has warned publishers against rewriting classic books for modern sensitivities and to stop “nitpicking” over language.

The author said that you “cannot go on rewriting to suit people” when it comes to potentially dated language in classic texts.

Sir Michael’s comments were made after the Telegraph’s revelations that the work of Roald Dahl, Agatha Christie, Ian Fleming, and PG Wodehouse have been edited to avoid causing offence.

The author of War Horse said: “We've learnt a lot that's been very good, we've learnt a lot that's rubbish. If you start the nitpicking, you never stop.

“I think that it's really important for children to read books and have some sense of when the books were written. You just cannot go on rewriting Dickens and rewriting Shakespeare to suit people.”

‘Reimagine stories of the past’

The writer has suggested that instead of wholesale rewrites or the purging of language from classic books, modern-day authors could reimagine the stories of the past in a way that would take account of contemporary sensitivities.

Speaking on Times Radio, the former Children's Laureate said: “What you have to do is tell the same story, but tell it in a way that the children in the 21st century can read.”

His comments come after the Telegraph revealed a string of authors whose works are still in copyright have been edited by major publishing houses.

Jeeves and Wooster work by Wodehouse have had racial terms deemed offensive removed, and a trigger warning has been added to the front of editions newly issued by Penguin.

Agatha Christie Miss Marple and Poirot mysteries were similarly purged of racial terms by Harper Collins, with entire passages removed.

New editions of Fleming’s James Bond novels were also revealed to have been edited to avoid causing offence, after it emerged that the children's works of Roald Dahl had been rewritten to remove terms such as “fat” and “ugly”.