John Burningham |
About John Burningham
An Interview with John Burningham
More About John Burningham
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John Burningham was born in Farnham, Surrey in 1936 and attended the alternative education establishment, Summerhill in Suffolk, where lessons aren't 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 3 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 what he wanted to do, he returned to Israel, working on a variety of projects involving set designs, model-making, puppets for a film company. Upon his return to England in the autumn of 1960, he sold posters to London Transport, cartoons to magazines, and created Christmas card designs, until the publication of his first book in 1963, Borka, the Adventures of a Goose with No Feathers.
This was followed by a series about The Adventures of Mr Gumpy, his motor car and his animal friends who always seem to land in trouble and Cannonball Simp, the story of a little lost dog who is adopted by a circus and becomes the star of the show when she is shot out of the cannon. John Burningham illustrated a new edition of Kenneth Grahame's irresistible Wind in the Willows. He also collaborated with Ian Fleming on Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, and designed the model of the famous car.
His wife, Helen Oxenbury is also a Puffin illustrator, particularly well-known for The Quangle Wangle's Hat. They live with their three children Lucy, Bill and Emily near Hampstead Heath.
John Burningham has been awarded two Kate Greenaway medals, for Borka, The Adventures of a Goose with No Feathers and for Mr. Gumpy's Outing.
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