It started at Summerhill with AS Neill. Since then his friends have called him …Brum
John Burningham was an award-winning artist and illustrator, known especially for the wit and humour in his storytelling and artwork. He was hugely admired amongst his contemporaries.
His critically acclaimed picture books are loved all over the world. Titles include Humbert, Granpa, Oi, get off our train! Would You Rather, and Patrick Norman McHennessy: The Boy Who Was Always Late.
During his career he won numerous awards for his work including the Kate Greenaway Award in 1963 for his first picture book, Borka, The Adventures of a Goose with No Feathers. 2023 was be the 60th anniversary of Borka’s publication.
In addition to his picture books, John published books for older readers including Around the World in Eighty Days, England, France, The Time of your Life and Champagne.
He was born in 1936, and married illustrator Helen Oxenbury. They lived for many years in Hampstead, London. In 2018 John and Helen were jointly presented with the Book Trust Lifetimes Achievement Award for their work in children’s books.
The Estate of John Burningham has been set up by John’s family to keep awareness of his books and work alive.
An exhibition of John’s work ‘John Burningham’s Bedtime Stories’ was at the National Trust Mottisfont in Hampshire From July 20 til September 2024
A previous retrospective exhibition: John Burningham – An Illustrated Life was on display at Burgh House, London, in 2022.
John visited Yugoslavia in 1956. The experience of travelling by sleigh and the gypsy music later inspiring the story of Trublof the Mouse who wanted to play the Balailaika.
He met his wife the illustrator Helen Oxenbury at Central School of Arts where she was studying theatre design. They were married in 1964 and moved to Hampstead.
His first book Borka was published by Jonathan Cape in 1963 went on to win the prestigious Kate Greenaway Award in 1964. It’s the story of a courageous and friendly goose who is a bit different and born with no feathers.
For Around the World in Eighty Days, John undertook the same journey as Phileas Fogg gathering material for the book. He tried to capture something essential about each of the places he visited and took lots of photographs as reference.
“I never use a sketchbook” said John “I just look”
In the 1970’s John worked with Gallery Five founded by his friend the designer and artist Jan Pienkowski. Gallery Five produced cards, posters and wrapping paper which were innovative at the time.
The river in Mr Gumpy’s Outing is based on the River Stour in Suffolk. John remembers going there as child when his family hired a boat and set off up the river lined with willow trees. A quintessially English scene.
1980 The Shopping Basket
1982 Avocado Baby
1983 Pigs Plus
1983 Just Cats
1983 Five Down
1983 Count Up
1983 Read One
1983 Ride Off
1983 The Wind in the Willows
1984 Skip Trip
1984 Slam Bang
1984 Sniff Shout
1984 Granpa
1984 Jangle Twang
1984 Wobble Pop
1984 Cluck Baa
Oi Get Off Our Train was first published in 1989 in Japan. It is a story about the environment, about endangered species and is dedicated to the environmental campaigner Chico Mendes, who did so much to try to protect the rainforest.
John Patrick Norman McHennessy is one of John’s best-selling books in the Far East. It’s a story on the side of the child and all about the importance of the imagination.
Avocado Baby is one of John’s most popular books. It was inspired by his own daughter Emily who loved avocados when she was a baby.
1991 Aldo
1992 England
1993 Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present
1994 First Steps: Letters, Numbers, Colours, Opposites
1994 Courtney
1996 Cloudland
1998 France
1999 Whadayamean?
John wrote about his book France, “I could have made endless pictures of pretty villages and fields of lavender but this does not really tell you anything about the French.”
“One of the greatest picture book innovators of his generation, Burningham has consistently pushed at the boundaries of the medium.”
Professor Martin Salisbury
“Burningham is always on the side of the child and children instinctively respond to this.”
Julia Eccleshare
Another book about the environment is Whatdayamean. It’s a story that imagines what would have happened if the children of the world were empowered to sort out the troubles of the world. They would have to tackle the people who run the world.
John’s final book was Air Miles which he illustrated with his wife Helen. It was published in 2021 and was written by his friend Bill Salaman.
“John’s work is completely original unlike anything before or since. It is unique”
Raymond Briggs
Miles was John’s dog. He was a great character and John was inspired to write several of his books by the family pets. Courtney was their dog Stanley, a cross between a labrador and a border collie, Simp was inspired Helen’s Belgian barge dog called Lulu and Aldo was a pet rabbit that they were given by a neighbour. The rabbit was supposed to live in the greenhouse in the garden but preferred the kitchen. It was very bad-tempered – unlike Aldo in the book
Husherbye was written as a kind of chant and a way of lulling children to sleep at night. John said that he had been told by plenty of parents that plenty of parents have gone off to sleep reading Husherbye to their children.
John and Helen visited Sungkok, South Korea in 2006 for an exhibition of his work
“One of the greatest picture book innovators of his generation, Burningham has consistently pushed at the boundaries of the medium.”
Professor Martin Salisbury
“John’s work is completely original unlike anything before or since. It is unique”
Raymond Briggs
Sign up here and be the first to hear about exhibitions, events and other news.