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
age aiming particular readers suppose
I don't like narrowing my readers down - there's not a particular age or gender or nationality. I suppose I'm aiming at the child I was.
age brother coming died front half heart home promoted rugby watch wonderful
I had just been promoted to the first rugby team. It was a perfect, wonderful coming of age. My brother was already in the team, and my father had come to watch us. We went home, and my father died in front of me. Horribly, in about half an hour. He had a heart attack.
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.
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.
age draw drawing point six talk typical
When I talk to children, I show them a typical drawing I made when I was six and point out to them that when I was their age, I didn't draw any better than any of them.
book age left-behind
Picture books are for everybody at any age, not books to be left behind as we grow older.
agency children continue government medal says whose writer
Children will come out and listen to a writer whose books they like. They don't need a government agency or a medal that says 'laureate' to continue that.
age played player rugby unlikely until
I played rugby from the age of 10 until my late twenties; an unlikely player - small, quiet, long-haired and 'wiry.'
larger
I use a little brush only for really small details. Over the years, I've started to use a much larger brush.
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.
best somewhere standing work
Most of the day I work standing up, as I once read somewhere that it's the best position for the back.
computers develop images impressed late love paint paper
I'm impressed by the way some illustrators develop their images on computers, but it's too late for me to start, and I'm still in love with paper and paint and pencils.
bit memoir running work
Having a memoir and a retrospective of your work running almost simultaneously when you're still alive does feel a bit posthumous.
art discovered finding obsessed sports
From 17 to 21, I was obsessed by sport and art. In art, I loved the pre-Raphaelites and Rembrandt first. Then I discovered Salvador Dali, and it was like finding something I already knew.