Graham Oakley (born Graham Thomas Oakley on 27 August 1929 – 19 December 2022) was an English writer and illustrator best known for

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

including the Church Mice and Foxbury Force series.

Early life

Oakley was born on 27 August 1929 to Thomas and Flora (née Madelay) Oakley in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, as their only child. Oakley grew up living above an electrical repair shop which his father ran before his family moved to

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

Education

Oakley's studies at Warrington Art School were interrupted when Oakley was called up for national military service in 1947, returning in 1950 to finish studies.

Military service

Oakley served two years at the headquarters of the

British Army of the Rhine British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked ...

Art career

Oakley freelanced for London

repertory theatre A repertory theatre, also called repertory, rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom ...

companies as a scenic artist from 1950 to 1955; as a design assistant at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

in Covent Garden, 1955 to 1957; at Crawford's Advertising Agency, 1960 to 1962; at BBC-TV as a set designer for films and series, 1962 to 1967. At BBC, Oakley worked on ''

How Green Was My Valley ''How Green Was My Valley'' is a 1939 novel by Richard Llewellyn, narrated by Huw Morgan, the main character, about his Welsh family and the mining community in which they live. The author had claimed that he based the book on his own experi ...

'', ''

Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'', or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'', is the third novel by English author Charles Dickens, originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839. The character of Nickleby is a young man who must support his ...

'', ''

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure a ...

'', and '' Softly, Softly''.

Children's books

Oakley is best known for the Church Mice series of

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

(1970 to 2000), next for the Foxbury Force series (1994 to 1998). He also won a

Boston Globe–Horn Book Award The ''Boston Globe''–''Horn'' Book Awards are a set of American literary awards conferred by ''The Boston Globe'' and ''The Horn Book Magazine'' annually from 1967. One book is recognized in each of four categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonficti ...

Special Citation in 1980 for the picture book ''Graham Oakley's Magical Changes''. It features detailed scenes drawn on pages that are cut in half, permitting the user to "turn" the top and bottom halves separately. The combinations are surreal; the original whole-page drawings are already strange. In 1981, it was republished in France, entitled ''512'' for the number of different combinations possible. ;The Church Mice *''The Church Mouse'' - Atheneum, 1972 *''The Church Cat Abroad'' - Atheneum, 1973 *''The Church Mice and the Moon'' - Atheneum, 1974 *''The Church Mice Spread Their Wings'' - Macmillan (London), 1975 *''The Church Mice Adrift'' - Macmillan (London), 1976 *''The Church Mice at Bay'' - Macmillan (London), 1978 *''The Church Mice at Christmas'' - Atheneum, 1980 *''The Church Mice in Action'' - Macmillan (London), 1982 *''The Diary of a Church Mouse'' - Macmillan (London), 1986 *'' The Church Mice and the Ring'', 1992 *''Humphrey Hits the Jackpot'' -

Hodder Children's Books Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.H ...

, 1998 *''The Church Mice Take a Break'' - Hodder Children's Books, 2000 ''The Church Mice Adrift'' and ''The Church Mice in Action'' were Highly Commended runners-up for the 1976 and 1982

Kate Greenaway Medal The Carnegie Medal for Illustration (until 2022 the Kate Greenaway Medal) is a British award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Librar ...

s from the

Library Association The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP, pronounced ) is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the United Kingdom. It was established in 2002 as a merger of th ...

, recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a

British subject The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...

."Kate Greenaway Medal"
. 2007(?). Curriculum Lab. Elihu Burritt Library.

Central Connecticut State University Central Connecticut State University (Central Connecticut, CCSU, Central Connecticut State, or informally Central) is a public university in New Britain, Connecticut. Founded in 1849 as the State Normal School, CCSU is Connecticut's oldest publi ...

(CCSU). Retrieved 2012-07-02. ;The Foxbury Force *''The Foxbury Force'' - Macmillan, 1995 *''Foxbury Force And The Pirates'' - Macmillan, 1996 *''The Foxbury Force & The Ghost'' - Macmillan, 1998 ;Non-series Books *''Henry's Quest'' - Atheneum, 1986. A children's dystopian/post-apocalyptic story book

Later life and death

According to the 2008 Modern Classics edition of ''The Church Mice'', he lived in

Lyme Regis Lyme Regis ( ) is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

and was "mostly retired". Oakley died in Dorset on 19 December 2022, at the age of 93.

Notes

References

External links

Official website

an

by librarian Kathleen Watson (alia.org.au/~kwatson), archived 2012-02-04
Interview with the Church Mice
()
Graham Oakley: The Man Who Created The Church Mice (Part 1)
an
(Part 2)
– 2011 interview at The Polymath Perspective * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oakley, Graham 1929 births 2022 deaths Artists from Shrewsbury English children's book illustrators English children's writers Writers from Shrewsbury Artists from Warrington Writers from Warrington