Anthony Browne
Anthony Browne
Anthony Edward Tudor Browne is a British writer and illustrator of children's books, primarily picture books, with nearly forty titles to his name. For his lasting contribution as a children's illustrator he won the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2000, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books. From 2009 to 2011 he was Children's Laureate...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionChildren's Author
Date of Birth11 September 1946
children forget listen respect talk
Never forget that children are at the heart of everything we do. Respect them, listen to them, talk to them as equals, and care about them.
children imagination inspiring laureate post
Inspiring passion in children for books, and the world of imagination and creativity fuelled by them, is a fundamental reason for why the Children's Laureate post exists.
believed books changed hope met minds picture time
Many adults that I have met in my time believed that picture books are 'babyish'. I hope I have changed minds on this, as I set out to do.
age children incredibly life paintings picture share stays
The illustrations in picture books are the first paintings most children see, and because of that, they are incredibly important. What we see and share at that age stays with us for life.
best books choose felt force picture time understood
Force me to choose my best book, and I always come back to 'Gorilla.' It was the first time I felt I understood what picture books could do.
children pages seen tend turn
As adults, we've seen so much before that we often turn the pages of a picture book without really looking. Young children tend to look more carefully.
age close faster grew older stronger
I grew up with an older brother who was always stronger and faster and better than me at everything, but I was close enough in age to try and compete, so we had a competitive childhood.
balanced emotional life worrying
Worrying can be a kind of caring, and as such is a healthy part of a balanced emotional life.
books excites gap picture pictures slightly
What excites me about picture books is the gap between pictures and words. Sometimes the pictures can tell a slightly different story or tell more about the story, about how someone is thinking or feeling.
larger
I use a little brush only for really small details. Over the years, I've started to use a much larger brush.
art good imagine job medical operations
After art college, I got a job as a medical illustrator, and I was pretty good. I had to imagine what was going on in the operations because the photographs just showed a mess.
dreams mysterious stories
Stories come to me in mysterious ways, more like dreams than reasoned creations.
afterwards bit stories
Stories come to me and I don't know where they come from, but afterwards I can look back and say, 'Oh yes, that's got a little bit of me, or a little bit of my own son in it'. That's where ideas come from.
bit felt outsider work
I've always felt that I was a bit of an outsider to the British children's-book illustration scene, because I don't work in line and wash.