Nursery World - Mick Inkpen

Mick Inkpen was born in Romford, Essex. He began his career as a graphic designer after declining a place to study English at Cambridge University. His first experience of professional illustration was when he tried to draw cartoons to illustrate articles in a banking journal.

His first experience of professional illustration was when he tried to draw cartoons to illustrate articles in a banking journal.

During this time he worked with children's author Nick Butterworth, and together they developed a cartoon strip for the Sunday Express magazine, later to become a first series of children's picture books. In 1989 The Blue Balloon established him as a truly original voice in children's picture books.

He is married with two children and says, 'I've always foisted the books on the children at every conceivable stage of production, eager for reaction, and remember showing my son, then six, the illustrations for The Blue Balloon. His only comment was, "It's not your best work, is it dad?" He wouldn't elaborate. Without the experience of having children of my own I doubt that I would have been capable of writing effectively for children.

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