“There is a misconception that picture books for children should be packed with colour and decoration on every page. This is like saying a successful piece of music should be crammed full of loud notes. It’s the juxtaposition and build-up of sound that makes music interesting.”

John Burningham talking
about the Shirley books
Over the summer of 2024, National trust Mottisfont hosted Bedtime Stories, an exhibition of John Burningham's work
John Burningham’s Champagne focusses on the quintessentially British summer season of events all subject to the unpredictable British weather
Let it snow explores the winter season through 3 Burningham books. Seasons, Trubloff - the Mouse who wanted to play the Balalaika and The Snow
It's Christmas Eve and there is one present left in Father Christmas's sack. It's for a small boy called Harvey Slumfenburger, who lives far, far away on top of the
Ignite Music, specialists in new classical music for young people, creat a new production of Borka the Opera to mark Borka’s 60th birthday.
In the mid 1970’s John Burningham published a series of books on first experiences for younger children
John Burningham's ABC followed Borka in 1964. Given the freedom to do pretty much what he liked, It gained its effect simply as a suite of individual gorgeous paintings
Out
Long before the powerful voices of the Thunberg generation were even dreamt of, John Burningham saw children as being not only deeply aware, but as the antidote to the destruction
'Humbert' belongs to a bygone era, with horse-drawn carts, stables and Lord Mayor's of London travelling the square mile with considerable pagentry