Gorilla Award-winning by Anthony Browne (author)

Author/Illustrator

Anthony Browne

Anthony grew up in a village called Hipperholme, in Yorkshire. He loved art and would spend hours drawing with his beloved father. He says of his father, “He was an unusual man – outwardly strong and confident, but also shy and sensitive – a bit like the gorillas I love to illustrate now. As well as drawing, he encouraged me to play a lot of sports, such as rugby and soccer and cricket. I was small for my age and I used to go to a fairly tough school – if I hadn’t been good at sports, I would probably have been bullied.”

After he left school, Anthony studied graphic design and then went on to paint the insides of people’s bodies for medical textbooks. He found this fascinating, but after three years found that the work was becoming repetitive (“if you’ve seen one stomach operation, you’ve seen ‘em all!”) and instead began designing greetings cards. This in turn led him to illustrating children’s books – his book Gorilla began life as a picture on a birthday card. Anthony lives in Kent and has two grown-up children.

Gorillas feature in many of Anthony’s books. He says, “I am fascinated by them and the contrast they represent – their huge strength and gentleness. They’re thought of as being very fierce creatures and they’re not.” Anthony’s illustrations also reveal his love of the Surrealist painters, whose pictures often depict strange, dreamlike scenes (look out for all the disguised bananas hidden in Anthony’s books!). When Anthony first has an idea for a picture book, he says, “it’s a strange combination of story and images. Deciding what will be illustrated on the pages of a book is like deciding on the scenes of a film.” Anthony has won many prizes for his work, including the Kate Greenaway Medal (twice) and the Kurt Maschler Award (three times). In 2000, he received the highest international honour for illustration, the Hans Christian Andersen Award, for his services to children’s literature – the first British illustrator to win the prize since 1956.

Anthony was also Children’s Laureate from 2009-2011.

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What kids think

1. Slothgirl
   on 9 May 2018

   I absolutely love this book it was my favourite book when I was 2. I am 10 now and I still love the book. I would recommend children all ages should read this book

   5 out of 5

2. Hawthornclassyear12
   on 4 February 2014

   I loved this book very much! It is really good. I loved the gorilla and Hannah! It was funny.

   Miss Foster

   5 out of 5

3. Beijing
   on 12 March 2013

   I thought this was a brilliant book. I read it to my class and they were captivated by the mysterious pictures. They especially loved the strange gorillas in the background. Anthony Browne is now our favourite author!

   5 out of 5

4. TheMileLongBookshelfBlog
   on 8 March 2013

   hannah was a nice character. i really enjoyed this!

5. Partyfairy123
   on 4 March 2012

   I like it when the toy gorilla comes to life and they go to the zoo. Then the daddy says let’s go to the zoo.

6. angelslater
   on 2 March 2012

   this book as a really nice ending and a very sweet story about a girl and her love for gorillas

7. Cupcake03baby
   on 24 May 2011

   I like this book because it is so exciting. And I loved it

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