Tony Ross

Last updated

Tony Ross
Tony Ross 20171207 04.jpg
Ross in 2017
BornAnthony Lee Ross [1]
(1938-08-10) 10 August 1938 (age 85)
London, England
OccupationAuthor, illustrator
Genre Children's picture books
Notable awards Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
1986

Anthony Lee Ross (born 10 August 1938) [1] is a British author and illustrator of children's picture books. In Britain, he is best known for writing and illustrating his Little Princess books and for illustrating the Horrid Henry series by Francesca Simon, both of which have become TV series for Milkshake! and CITV respectively based on his artwork. He also illustrates the works of David Walliams. He has also illustrated the Amber Brown series by Paula Danziger, the Dr. Xargle series by Jeanne Willis, and the Harry The Poisonous Centipede series by Lynne Reid Banks.

Contents

Early life

Ross was born on 10 August 1938 in London. His parents are Eric Turle Lee Ross and Effie Ross (née Griffiths). He attended Helsby Grammar School and studied at the Liverpool School of Art and Design. [2]

Career

Ross has had many jobs, including a cartoonist, graphic designer, then art director at an advertising agency. In 1976, his long association with the fledgling Andersen Press began with the publication of his re-telling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. For several years he was senior lecturer in art and head of the illustration course at Manchester Polytechnic.

Among WorldCat participating libraries, the eight most widely held works by Ross are Amber Brown books written by Danziger. The most widely held book written and illustrated by Ross is I Want Two Birthdays (2008), which is represented in ten languages. [3]

Awards

In 1986 Ross won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, picture books category, for Ich komm dich holen!, the German-language edition of I'm coming to get you! (Andersen, 1984). For the third Dr. Xargle book with Willis, Dr. Xargle's book of Earth Tiggers, about cats, he was a highly commended runner-up for the 1990 Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject. [4] [lower-alpha 1]

For his contribution as a children's illustrator he was UK nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2004. [5]

Notes

  1. Today there are usually eight books on the Greenaway shortlist. According to CCSU, some runners up were Commended (from 1959) or Highly Commended (from 1974). The high distinction was approximately annual from 1979, including Ross alone for 1990. There were 99 distinctions of both kinds in 44 years including six for 1986, three 1990.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosemary Sutcliff</span> English novelist (1920–1992)

Rosemary Sutcliff was an English novelist best known for children's books, especially historical fiction and retellings of myths and legends. Although she was primarily a children's author, some of her novels were specifically written for adults. In a 1986 interview she said, "I would claim that my books are for children of all ages, from nine to ninety."

Sir Quentin Saxby Blake, is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his lasting contribution as a children's illustrator he won the biennial international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2002, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books. From 1999 to 2001, he was the inaugural British Children's Laureate. He is a patron of the Association of Illustrators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Mahy</span> New Zealand childrens writer (1936-2012)

Margaret Mahy was a New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. Many of her story plots have strong supernatural elements but her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growing up. She wrote more than 100 picture books, 40 novels and 20 collections of short stories. At her death she was one of thirty writers to win the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Medal for her "lasting contribution to children's literature".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Lee (illustrator)</span> Illustrator and movie conceptual designer

Alan Lee is an English book illustrator and film conceptual designer. He is best known for his artwork inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novels, and for his work on the concept design of Peter Jackson's film adaptations of Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Briggs</span> English illustrator (1934–2022)

Raymond Redvers Briggs was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story The Snowman, a book without words whose cartoon adaptation is televised and whose musical adaptation is staged every Christmas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Dickinson</span> English author & poet (1927–2015)

Peter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE FRSL was an English author and poet, best known for children's books and detective stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Keeping</span> English illustrator, childrens book author and lithographer (1924– 1988)

Charles William James Keeping was an English illustrator, children's book author and lithographer. He made the illustrations for Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novels for children, and he created more than twenty picture books. He also illustrated the complete works of Charles Dickens for the Folio Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Almond</span> British childrens writer (born 1951)

David Almond is a British author who has written many novels for children and young adults from 1998, each one receiving critical acclaim.

Michael Foreman is a British author and illustrator, one of the best-known and most prolific creators of children's books. He won the 1982 and 1989 Kate Greenaway Medals for British children's book illustration and he was a runner-up five times.

Jan Michał Pieńkowski was a Polish-born British author of children's books—as illustrator, as writer, and as designer of movable books. He is best known for illustrating the Meg and Mog picture book series. He also designed for the theatre. For his contribution as a children's illustrator he was UK nominee in 1982 and again in 2008 for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books.

Martin Waddell is a writer of children's books from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He may be known best for his picture book texts featuring anthropomorphic animals, especially the Little Bear series illustrated by Barbara Firth.

Errol John Le Cain was a British animator and children's book illustrator. In 1984 he won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal for "distinguished illustration in a book for children" for Hiawatha's Childhood.

Mitsumasa Anno was a Japanese illustrator and writer of children's books, known best for picture books with few or no words. He received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1984 for his "lasting contribution to children's literature."

<i>City of Gold</i> (book) Bible stories retold for children by Peter Dickinson

City of Gold and other stories from the Old Testament is a collection of 33 Old Testament Bible stories retold for children by Peter Dickinson, illustrated by Michael Foreman, and published by Victor Gollancz Ltd in 1980. The British Library Association awarded Dickinson his second Carnegie Medal recognising the year's outstanding children's book by a British subject and highly commended Foreman for the companion Kate Greenaway Medal.

Robert Donald Graham, better known as Bob Graham, is an Australian author and illustrator of picture books, primarily for very young children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Browne (author)</span> British writer and illustrator

Anthony Edward Tudor Browne is a British writer and illustrator of children's books, primarily picture books. Browne has written or illustrated over fifty books, and received the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2000. From 2009 to 2011 he was Children's Laureate.

John Burningham was an English author and illustrator of children's books, especially picture books for young children. He lived in north London with his wife Helen Oxenbury, another illustrator. His last published work was a husband-and-wife collaboration, There's Going to Be a New Baby, written by John and illustrated by Helen for "ages 2+".

<i>Pirate Diary</i> Childrens book by Richard Platt

Pirate Diary: The Journal of Jake Carpenter is an account of the pirate life cast as the journal of a young cabin boy, written by Richard Platt and illustrated by Chris Riddell. It was published by Walker in 2001, two years after Castle Diary, also by Platt and Riddell. Platt continued the "Diary" series with illustrator David Parkins.

Brian Lawrence Wildsmith was a British painter and children's book illustrator. He won the 1962 Kate Greenaway Medal for British children's book illustration, for the wordless alphabet book ABC. In all his books, the illustrations are always as important as the text.

<i>Dr. Xargle</i>

Dr. Xargle is a series of children's picture books written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Tony Ross; the original six books were published by Andersen Press from 1988 to 1993. It features an alien perspective on human civilization, especially the life of British children and their families. Alternatively, Dr. Xargle is the main character, an alien who studies Earth and teaches schoolchildren about it. Sometimes he takes them on field trips to Earth in human disguises. Finally, Dr. Xargle is a 1997 British television series based on the original books.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ross, Tony". Library of Congress Authorities (lccn.loc.gov). Retrieved 2017-09-03.
      For his birth name and date, the Library of Congress cites a 1998 phone call from Ross.
  2. "Ross, Anthony Lee, (Tony), (born 10 Aug. 1938), author and illustrator". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U33199. ISBN   978-0-19-954088-4 . Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  3. "Ross, Tony". WorldCat. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  4. "Kate Greenaway Medal" Archived 16 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine . 2007(?). Curriculum Lab. Elihu Burritt Library. Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  5. "2004". Hans Christian Andersen Awards. International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY).
      "Hans Christian Andersen Awards". IBBY. Retrieved 2013-07-22.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Tony Ross at Wikimedia Commons