In fact, when I get about a third of the way through, and I feel I'm on my way, then I'm happy. For Helen, 'The best part is when I think I know what I'm doing and I've completed a few drawings. 'It was intimidating to create a whole world, but very enjoyable.'Īnd what does she love most about her work? Thinking up new ideas? Seeing the finished book? Not at all. 'As I read Phyllis's text, I imagined Big Momma as part Buddha, part housewife,' she says. More recently, she collaborated with author Phyllis Root on the jubilant, no-nonsense tall tale BIG MOMMA MAKES THE WORLD.

Her numerous books for children include the Greenaway Medal-winning ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND and its companion, ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, both by Lewis Carroll Smarties Book Prize-winning FARMER DUCK by Martin Waddell SO MUCH by Trish Cooke as well as her classic board books for babies. Today, Helen Oxenbury is among the most popular and critically acclaimed illustrators of her time. 'When I had babies,' Helen Oxenbury says, 'I wanted to be home with them and look for something to do there.' After marrying John Burningham, another of the world's most eminent children's book illustrators, and giving birth to their first child, at last she turned to illustrating children's books. You ought to go and do illustrations-you're much more interested in the character, and we don't know who's going to play the part!'īut sets and scenery, not books, remained Helen Oxenbury's preoccupation for several more years as she embarked on careers in theater, film, and TV. While studying costume design, however, Helen Oxenbury was told by a teacher, 'This is hopeless, you know.

It was there that she decided her future lay in theater design. During vacations she helped out at the Ipswich Repertory Theatre workshop, mixing paints for set designers. As a teenager, she entered art school and basked in the pleasure of drawing, and nothing but drawing, all day. You ought to go and do illustrations-you're much more interested in the character, and we don't know who's going to play the part!' But sets and scenery, not books, remained Helen Oxenbury's preoccupation for several more years as she e Married to John Burninghamīorn in 1938 and growing up in Ipswich, England, Helen Oxenbury loved nothing more than drawing.

Married to John Burningham Born in 1938 and growing up in Ipswich, England, Helen Oxenbury loved nothing more than drawing.

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