Cockatoos: Celebrate Quentin Blake’s 90th Birthday

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Quentin was the inaugural Children's Laureate (1999-2001), an experience he recorded in his book Laureate's Progress. During his time in the role, he celebrated children's books and children's book illustration with a range of projects and exhibitions, and conceived the idea for the House of Illustration, the world's first centre dedicated to the art of illustration in all its forms. The Box of Delights; or, When the Wolves Were Running" John Masefield, Illustrated by Quentin Blake (Farshore, 2014) Blake won the Kurt Maschler Award, or the Emil, for All Join In (Jonathan Cape, 1990), which he wrote and illustrated. The award from Maschler Publications and Booktrust annually recognised one British "work of imagination for children, in which text and illustration are integrated so that each enhances and balances the other." [29] Blake has never been married nor had any children. [24] He lives in South Kensington, West London, and has another house in Hastings, East Sussex. [25] [26] Comics [ edit ] Standard, Kate Church, Evening (13 April 2012). "My London: Quentin Blake". Evening Standard . Retrieved 30 April 2023. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link)

Quentin Blake: 'Spend time with children? Good God, no' | Children and teenagers | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com . Retrieved 30 April 2023. Blake is the Founding Trustee of House of Illustration, a centre in London for exhibitions, educational events and activities related to the art of illustration. He was also the subject of the first exhibition at this venue, entitled Inside Stories", which opened in July 2014. In August 2020, it was announced that the centre will be relocating to the 18th century Engine House at New River Head in the Clerkenwell area of London, and will be renamed the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration. [22] Quentin Blake was awarded the O.B.E. in 1988, and in 1999 he was appointed the first Children's Laureate. This position, which he held for two years, saw him undertaking lots of ambitious projects in his quest to spread the word about the exciting world of children's books. In 2023, Blake was asked by Blue Peter to design a new Blue Peter badge which they have called their Book badge.

His book Laureate's Progress in 2002, recorded many of his activities and the illustrations he produced during his two-year tenure. Quentin Blake was created CBE in 2005, is an RDI and has numerous honorary degrees from universities throughout the UK.

He is also famous for illustrating books for other authors, including Joan Aiken, Michael Rosen and Russell Hoban. But he is most famous for the illustrations he did for Roald Dahl's books. Quentin has received many awards for his books including the Kate Greenaway Medal, the Children's Book Award, the Emil/Kurt Maschler Award, the Bologna Regazzi Prize and the 2002 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration, which is the highest international recognition given to creators of children's books. a b "Quentin Blake". Children's Laureate (childrenslaureate.org.uk). Booktrust. Retrieved 28 September 2013. Blake’s illustration both complements and contrasts with the text - and this is the book’s hidden superpower! Blake was educated at Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School. His English teacher, JH Walsh, influenced his ambition to become involved in literature. His first published drawing was for the satirical magazine Punch, at the age of 16. He read English Literature at Downing College, Cambridge (1953-6), received his postgraduate teaching diploma from the University of London, and later studied at the Chelsea School of Art. He gained another teaching diploma at the Institute of Education before working at the Royal College of Art.One after another they escaped through a broken pane of glass they had discovered in a corner of the conservatory. Learning to read is hard for many, many children. They spend their early years being told what they can and can’t do, and must fit in with an adult’s timeframe. By 2006, Blake had illustrated 323 books, of which he had written 35 and Dahl had written 18. [14] [a] To date, Blake has illustrated two of David Walliams' books and has illustrated Folio Society Limited Editions such as Don Quixote, Candide and 50 Fables of La Fontaine. Quentin Blake was born in 1932 and read English at Cambridge, before attending Chelsea Art College. He has won many major prizes for illustration, including the Kate Greenaway Medal (1980) and the Red House Children's Book Award (1981) for Mister Magnolia. He is also the winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration and in 1990 was voted 'The Illustrator's Illustrator' by Observer Magazine. A tireless promoter of children's literature – and a long-time collaborator with roald Dahl – Quentin Blake was awarded the OBE in 1988 and in 2005 he was awarded a CBE for services to Children's Literature. In the most recent New Year’s Honours list he has been knighted.

During the 1960s, Blake taught English at the Lycée Français de Londres which cemented his long association with France and culminated in the award of the Legion of Honour. He taught at the Royal College of Art for over twenty years, where he was head of the Illustration department from 1978 to 1986. Blake is beyond brilliant . . . I've never met a child who doesn't love Quentin Blake" - Daily Telegraph He was born in 1932 and has been drawing ever since he can remember. His first drawing was published in Punch when he was only 16. He studied English at Downing College, Cambridge, and after that he did a postgraduate teaching diploma at the University of London. This was followed by a part-time course at Chelsea Art School.Quentin Blake is one of Britain's best-loved and most successful author-illustrators, and was made the first Children's Laureate in 1999. He has won the Whitbread Award, the hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration, been shortlisted for The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award which rewards the best in contemporary children's and young adult literature from all over the world and has won the Kate Greenaway Medal among others. Blake is a supporter of and ambassador for the indigenous rights NGO Survival International. In 2009, he said, "For me, Survival is important for two reasons; one is that I think it’s right that we should give help and support to people who are threatened by the rapacious industrial society we have created; and the other that, more generally, it gives an important signal about how we all ought to be looking after the world. Its message is the most fundamental of any charity I'm connected with." [21] Quentin Blake: 'I never wanted children. But I do invent them.' ". www.telegraph.co.uk . Retrieved 30 April 2023. Chelsea Arts Club secretary signs off with 'lunatic' plea". London Evening Standard. 17 January 2013 . Retrieved 15 February 2017.