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.