Find this new series on picture book illustrators in our Children's Literature Research Collection.

Dick Bruna by Bruce Ingman
Judith Kerr by Joanna Carey
Ludwig Bemelmans by Laurie Britton-Newell
Posy Simmonds by Paul Gravett
Walter Crane by Jenny Uglow

Thames & Hudson have a reputation for producing beautiful well-crafted books about art, and The Illustrators series, is no exception. (Multi-talented author and illustrator Sir Quentin Blake acts as the series' overall consultant.) Each book in The Illustrators offers an engaging illustrated biographical essay, detailing the childhood, artistic development, and rise to fame of an internationally influential children's book illustrator, as well as a detailed examination of the stories behind their books. 

Using archives, including photographs and previously unpublished—or unknown—artwork, each title offers a sympathetic behind-the-scenes look at the lives of these illustrators. While each of them is known for their work in children's books, The Illustrators reveals that many are accomplished in a range of other fields, including travel writing, textile design, mural painting, and political cartooning; and each have led full and interesting lives.

At 112 pages each, and full of illustrations, these biographies are quick to read and full of fascinating facts, such as Madeline creator, Ludwig Bemelmans' (1898-1962) childhood in hotels across pre-First World War Europe, and his being sent to America, rather than reform school, as a teenager; and that Judith Kerr (1923-2019), the creator of Mog and The Tiger Who Came To Tea—who fictionalised her childhood in her novels—was a refugee from Nazi Germany and had to attend school in several different countries, learning a new language each time.

Although quick reads, you will want to linger longer with these beautiful books full of art and illustration, that tell the stories of artists and their creations.