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Michael Foreman grew up in Pakefield, a fishing village on the Suffolk coast in England. He studied at Lowestoft Art School and at St Martin's School of Art, and was a student at the Royal College of Art
in London when his first two children's books were published in 1961. One of them, The General, was recently reissued in a 50th Anniversary edition, and is captivating a whole new audience.

Throughout his career, Michael has worked with many well-known authors, as well as creating his own stories. To date he has published some 250 books and has garnered much recognition along the way. His collaboration with writer Michael Morpurgo has been particularly fruitful, and he has also illustrated many English children's classics.

Growing up during the Second World War and
then living through the Cold War have both influenced his work, which often carries strong anti-war and environmental undercurrents. His autobiographical War Boy: A Country Childhood won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1989; and War Game set in the First World War won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize and has also been turned into an award-winning animated film. Through books such as these, Michael has contributed to breaking down preconceptions that picture books are only for small children.

Michael's picture book A Child's Garden: A Story
of Hope has been selected for inclusion in the 2011 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set.

Michael lives with his wife in St Ives in Cornwall, England.

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Q&A

Quotations taken from our interview with Michael Foreman:

[On A Child's Garden]

The use of colour was an important element. The boy's world of rubble is without colour until the tiny green plant appears. As the plant is nurtured, colour gradually comes into the ground. Colour spreads as the plant grows and recedes as the plant is pulled down. Fortunately, roots are deep and seeds spread – and so does the colour.

...

I have worked on assignments from the Arctic to the South Seas and always travel with a note/sketch book in my pocket. On my first attendance at Saturday morning art class, aged about 11, I was handed a sketch book and taken outside to draw the real world. I loved it. Still do. Even so, during my travels I have often sketched on local ephemera – beer mats, napkins, backs
of menus etc. It gives a touch of local colour. The Chilean dumps were strewn with a rich supply of scraps of paper, which I picked up for on-the-spot sketches for Mia's Story.

...

When illustrating a Classic I like to bring something personal to it. I set Alice in Wonderland in Cornwall, where I have a studio. The Wind in the Willows I tried to give a 'sketch book feel' as if I was there on a riverbank and sketching the action as it happened. A Christmas Carol has scenes of my mother's shop. My favourite Classic remains Treasure Island – the first proper book I ever read. Again, it features the Pub and some local characters from St Ives in Cornwall.

...

With my own books the idea comes first, of course, but it could be a 'visual' or a 'story' idea. Either way, I work out the texts and visuals at the same time in my pocket notebook, as I am travelling around. As I develop the pictures, I can usually get rid of some of the text, since the pictures will tell some of the story.

...

[About his use of a characteristic shade of blue]

That blue is the blue of shallow seas over white sand – the blue that lifts your heart. The blue of our family’s happiest times.

...

[I would send A Child’s Garden] To any land divided by a fence, race or religion.

Posted October 2011




	By Michael Foreman (selected bibliography): *Oh! If only…* (Andersen Press, 2011) *Little Manfred, written by Michael Morpurgo (HarperCollins Children's Books, 2011) Painting Out the Stars, written by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham (Walker Books, 2011) One World* (Anderson Press, first published 1990, reissued 2011) *Superfrog!* (Andersen Press, 2011) *Fortunately, Unfortunately* (Andersen Press, 2010) *Cat on the Hill* (Hinkler Books, 2010) *Can’t Catch Me!* (Hinkler Books, 2010) *The General* (Templar Publishing, 2010: 50-year commemorative edition; first published by Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1961) *The Little Ships: A Story of the Heroic Rescue at Dunkirk, written by Louise Borden (Frances Lincoln, 2010; first published by Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1997) Why the Animals Came to Town* (Walker Books / Candlewick Press, 2010) *A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope* (Walker Books / Candlewick Press, 2009) *The Mozart Question, written by Michael Morpurgo (Walker Books, 2007 / Candlewick Press, 2008) Say Hello, written by Jack Foreman (Walker Books, 2007 / Candlewick Press, 2008) Mia's Story* (Walker Books / Candlewick Press, 2006) *Beowulf, written by Michael Morpurgo (Walker Books / Candlewick Press, 2006) Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, written by Michael Morpurgo (Walker Books / Candlewick Press, 2004) The Best Christmas Present in the World, written by Michael Morpurgo (Egmont Books, 2004) Gentle Giant, written by Michael Morpurgo (HarperCollins Children's Books, 2003) Evie and the Man who Helped God* (Andersen Press, 2002) *Toro! Toro!, written by Michael Morpurgo (HarperCollins Children's Books, 2001) The Shining Princess and Other Japanese Legends, written by Eric Quayle (Andersen Press,1999) The Rainbow Bear, written by Michael Morpurgo (Doubleday, 1999) The Merrymaid of Zennor, written by Charles Causley (Orchard Books, 1999) Kensuke's Kingdom, written by Michael Morpurgo (Heinemann, 1999) The Songs My Paddle Sings: Native American Legends, retold by James Riordan, with a Forward by Princess Shirley Little Dove Custalow (Chrysalis Children’s Books, 1997) Creation: Read-Aloud Stories from Many Lands, written by Ann Pilling (Candlewick Press, 1997) After the War was Over* (Pavilion, 1995) *War Game* (Arcade, 1994) *Land of the Long White Cloud: Maori Myths and Legends, retold by Kiri Te Kanawa (Pavilion Books, 1989) War Boy: A Country Childhood* (Pavilion, 1989) *The Angel and the Wild Animal* (Andersen Press, 1988) Tales for the Telling: Irish Folk & Fairy Stories, by Edna O’Brien, (Atheneum Books, 1986) *War and Peas* (Hamish Hamilton, 1974) *The Living Treasures of Japan, written by Barbara Adachi, photographs by Harri Peccinotti (Wildwood House, 1973) The Living Arts of Nigeria, edited by William Fagg, photographs by Harri Peccinotti (Studio Vista, 1971) More on PaperTigers:* Read our interview with Find out more about the Spirit of PaperTigers project and the 2011 Book Set. More on the web: Read this Book Trust interview and this article by Joanna Carey, celebrating The General's 50th Anniversary; and take a look at some of his illustrations. Read this interview with Just Imagine: find out how Michael met Michael Morpurgo, and about Soggy Bear; then take a photo tour of Michael's studio at interviewer Kim Toohey's blog here. Read this 1983 Books for Keeps interview with Michael for insight into his early career. View Michael's page on the British Council's Contemporary Writers website.


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