Helen Oxenbury is a highly acclaimed illustrator and author, working on over 140 including the bestselling We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Farmer Duck, and So Much. Her work is celebrated worldwide for its warmth, keen eye and playfulness. She has been awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal twice and, in 2018, won the Book Trust Lifetime Achievement Award, jointly with her husband, the author and illustrator John Burningham.
Helen Oxenbury was born in Ipswich in 1938. From an early age she loved drawing and after school, went to the Ipswich School of Art, before moving to London to study at the Central School of Art and Design. There she met her husband, the artist and illustrator John Burningham.
She worked originally in theatre in the UK and Israel and then went on to create cards for Jan Pienkowski’s ground-breaking stationery company Gallery Five. The images contributed by artists were influenced by pop art and new simplified graphic design.
Her earliest books, including an illustrated folk tale, Tolstoy’s retelling of The Great Big Enormous Turnip, were colourful and stylised. This was also true of her next two books, one illustrating Edward Lear’s The Quangle Wangle’s Hat and the other Margaret Mahy’s The Dragon of an Ordinary Family. These vibrant books impressed the judges of the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal judged by librarians and Helen was awarded the annual prize for illustration for two books instead of choosing between them.
She was then approached by Sebastian Walker to publish picture books and board books for his new publishing company. Together with Walker’s art director Amelia Edwards, they brought about the board book revolution with Helen’s realisation that babies are interested in images of other babies, introducing realism, humour and tenderness to her depictions, which became a sequence of 14 bestselling books.
Oxenbury’s books have a gentleness and sense of fun but are also groundbreaking. Her baby books have a place in the history of civil rights. Farmer Duck, now a classic published by Walker Books from Martin Waddell’s story, is a tale of a farmyard mutiny by a put-upon duck leading a rebellion against his lazy, exploitative owner.
For Trish Cooke’s So Much, she sat in cafes in Brixton and remembered the people of colour that she saw. And when she illustrated Phyllis Root’s feminist take on the Creation, Big Mama Makes the World, she deliberately made the creator and her baby take on reflected light so that they might be people of any ethnicity.
For her bestselling picture book published in 1989, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, written by Michael Rosen, she decided to use a setting that was a memory of her childhood in Felixstowe. Much of the story is in the pictures and can be seen in the film of the book created by Lupus Films and the stage show. Since publication 30 years ago, the book has sold 15 million copies worldwide and been translated into 42 languages. It is one of the best-selling picture books of all time.
In 1999 Helen won the Kate Greenaway Award for a second time for her illustrated edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and for the 50th anniversary of the Medal in 2007, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was named by a panel as one of the top ten winning works of all time.
In 2018, Helen won the BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award with her husband John Burningham. A follow up picture book with Michael Rosen, Oh Dear. Look What I Got! will be published in Autumn 2025 by Walker Books. 2025 will also be a year of exhibitions of Helen’s work including exhibitions at Burgh House in Hampstead and The Harley Gallery in Nothamptonshire.
1938
Helen Oxenbury is born on June 2 in Ipswich, Suffolk and studies at Ipswich School of Art in the 1950’s, before moving to London and Central School of Art and Design, where she specializes in theatre design.
Early 1960s
Begins her career working in theatre, film, and television set design.
1963
She meets her future husband and fellow illustrator John Burningham at art college. They get married in 1963.
1964
She illustrates her first children’s book, Numbers of Things by Gladys Knott.
1967
Helen wins her first Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration for her book The Quangle Wangle’s Hat by Edward Lear which was published by Heinemann.
1987
Her first board books for babies and toddlers featuring All Fall Down, Clap Hands and Tickle Tickle are published. Her depiction of babies interacting – crying, crawling, smiling and playing were ground-breaking at the time. She created the genre, transformed baby books by putting babies at the centre and making them feel warm, real, and genuinely connected to a baby’s world.
1988
Wins her second Kate Greenaway Medal for her illustrated edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll published by Walker Books. Her depiction of Alice as a modern child, bringing her closer to the real experience of children.
1993
She illustrates We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by poet, Michael Rosen. The book becomes a modern classic, selling millions of copies worldwide and going on to be an animated show. The book has since sold over 30 million copies worldwide.
1999
Illustrates Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell, a widely acclaimed picture book.
It tells the story of a hardworking duck who does all the farm work while the lazy farmer stays in bed. The duck suffers in silence until one day the other animals unite to drive the farmer out and help the duck reclaim his freedom and joy.
2008
So Much! Written by Trish Cooke wins the Kurt Maschler Award (Emil Award), celebrating the integration of text and illustration.
2015
Collaborates with her husband John Burningham on There’s Going to Be a Baby, a book about becoming an older sibling. It reflects both her family life and creative partnership.
2018
Publication of Helen Oxenbury: A Life in Illustration by Leonard S. Marcus, a biographical account of her life and contributions to children’s literature. This year, she and her husband John Burningham win the Book Trust Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2019, John Burningham, her husband of over 50 years passes away.
2025
Helen’s new book with Michael Rosen is published called Oh Dear, Look What I Got!
Written by acclaimed author Leonard S. Marcus, Helen Oxenbury: A Life in Illustration is a keepsake, sure to engage and delight everyone from scholars to art aficionados and the many children and adults who have grown up with Helen Oxenbury’s enchanting books.
Helen’s exhibition, Helen Oxenbury: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and Other Adventures will open at the Harley Gallery, Nottinghamshire on October 4 and run until January 4
