André Bouchard works as a humorous cartoonist for major French
newsmagazines. He has also written and illustrated several successful
books for children.
As a token of his admiration for Quentin Blake's talent, he wrote Daddy Lost His Head and asked him to illustrate it, which Mr Blake kindly accepted.
Quentin Blake was born in 1932 and has been drawing ever
since he can remember. His first drawing was published in Punch when he
was only 16. He studied English at Downing College, Cambridge, and
after that he did a postgraduate teaching diploma at the University of
London. This was followed by a part-time course at Chelsea Art School.
Quentin has received many awards for his books including the Kate
Greenaway Medal, the Children's Book Award, the Emil/Kurt Maschler
Award, the Bologna Regazzi Prize and the 2002 Hans Christian Andersen
Award for Illustration, which is the highest international recognition
given to creators of children's books.
He is also famous for illustrating books for other authors,
including Joan Aiken, Michael Rosen and Russell Hoban. But he is most
famous for the illustrations he did for Roald Dahl's books.
Quentin Blake was awarded the O.B.E. in 1988, and in 1999 he was
appointed the first Children's Laureate. This position, which he held
for two years, saw him undertaking lots of ambitious projects in his
quest to spread the word about the exciting world of children's books.
