John Burningham
About Author
John Burningham was born in Farnham, Surrey in 1936 and attended the alternative education establishment, Summerhill in Suffolk, where lessons are not compulsory.
At the age of 17, he became a conscientious objector, and avoided military service by joining the Friends Ambulance Unit. This was followed by forestry work, farming, slum clearance, school building in Southern Italy and demolition work in Israel.
He returned to England and attended the Central School of Art in London for three years, graduating in 1959 with a National Diploma in Design, as well as the School's own Diploma. His final piece consisted of an album of drawings created by means of hand-and-foot prints.
Still unsure of his future, he returned to Israel where he worked on models and puppets for a film company until his return to England in the autumn of 1960. From then on, he created posters for London Transport, drew cartoons for magazines and
made Christmas card designs until the publication of his first book in 1963, Borka: The Adventures of a Goose with no Feathers.
He was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1964 for his illustrations in Borka and since then, has come to be recognised as 'quite properly one of the most famous and respected illustrators the world over', Nursery World.
His books visit the world of make-believe, and include such titles as Come Away From the Water, Shirley and the follow-up, Time to Get Out of the Bath, Shirley.
His empathy with children is captured in John Patrick Norman McHennessey: The Boy Who Was Always Late, the story of a school-boy incapable of getting to school on time because of the amazing things that happen to him.
His 1984 book, Granpa won the Emil/Kurt Maschler Award. It was subsequently made into an animated film by the makers of The Snowman and featured the voice of Peter Ustinov as Granpa. The Daily Mail described the book as 'a magical mystery tour, as an old man guides a little girl through the fantasy world of his memory...Outstanding.' A royalty from the sale of this edition goes to the children's charity, UNICEF.
Following this success, John Burningham was commissioned by Great Western Railways in Japan to write and illustrate a story around a boy and a train, which would have a strong ecological theme, for the Japanese Expo'90. The result is a highly
popular book, Oi! Get Off Our Train, which deals with the issue of endangered animals as they try to board the train in order to escape sure extinction. This too was made into a short animated film. The railway in the book was re-created as part of the Exhibition.
The book was variously described as, 'A delightful, humorous book with a simple important message' by The Scotsman and, 'A book not to miss', by The Observer.
Aldo depicts a small girl's everyday life and her relationship with her secret friend, who always knows how she is feeling. One of his most endearing books tells the story of a dog with a difference Courtney.
His work has been translated into 11 different languages including, Afrikaans, Dutch and Japanese, and his popularity is phenomenal - he receives letters from all over the world. John is married to the illustrator Helen Oxenbury, with whom he has 3 children. He lives in Hampstead, North London.
1999 saw the launch of Whadayamean, a fascinating look at the damage we are doing to our planet, and the publication in paperback of Cloudland as well as six redesigned Burningham classics. In July 2000 four more redesigned classics were published alongside Whadayamean in paperback, whilst autumn 2000 saw the launch of Husherbye. Mr Gumpy's Motor Car returned to Red Fox in spring 2002, whilst spring 2003 heralded the arrival of John's latest book The Magic Bed.
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