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
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.
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.
draw
Everyone can draw when they're five. Most of us lose the ability.
Writers are articulate. Artists find it more difficult.
cowboys foreground funny gruesome indians layers liked stories
As a child, I'd always liked cowboys and Indians stories where there were two layers - gruesome in the foreground but funny in the background.
aware born capable children far pictures social worried
I never want to make a child worried or afraid, and I don't think I do. My pictures are born from the belief that children are far more capable and aware of social complexities than we give them credit for.
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.
The first thing I put down on paper is a storyboard, like a film director.
education happens lose
Something happens to our creativity as we go through the education process; most of us lose touch with it.
forced incredible libraries outrageous public school
I find it incredible and outrageous that public and school libraries are being forced to close - we'll all pay the price in the long term.
man physically
Gorillas remind me of my father. He was a very big, physically strong man but also very sensitive.
although good prefer work
Although I have two good Anglepoise lights, I much prefer to work by daylight.