Barbara Firth (1928-2013) was a British illustrator of children's books, best known for her work on

Martin Waddell Martin Waddell (born 10 April 1941) is a writer of children's books from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He may be known best for his picture book texts featuring anthropomorphic animals, especially the ''Little Bear'' series illustrated by Barbara ...

's ''Little Bear'' books. She won the 1988

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 ...

Early life

Firth was born in Cheshire on 20 September 1928. She enjoyed drawing as a child but had no formal art education. She qualified in pattern cutting at the

London College of Fashion The London College of Fashion is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers undergraduate and postgraduate study, short courses, study-abroad courses and business t ...

Career

She worked for 15 years for ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

'' as production director on books on crochet, knitting and dressmaking. She moved to

Marshall Cavendish Marshall Cavendish is a subsidiary company of Times Publishing Group, the printing and publishing subsidiary of Singapore-based conglomerate Fraser and Neave (which in turn currently owned by ThaiBev, a Thai beverage company), and at present i ...

and worked on their partworks, and there met

Amelia Edwards Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards (7 June 1831 – 15 April 1892), also known as Amelia B. Edwards, was an English novelist, journalist, traveller and Egyptologist. Her literary successes included the ghost story ''The Phantom Coach'' (1864), the nov ...

who commissioned her to illustrate some non-fiction work including Margaret Lane's ''The Spider''. This led to work on David Lloyd's ''Great Escapes'' books and subsequently to her work with Waddell. She won the 1988

, awarded by the then

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 ...

(now CILIP) for "distinguished illustration in a book for children", for her work on

's ''Can't You Sleep Little Bear?'' (Walker, ), which has been called "as perfect a picture-book as anyone could hope to make". The book was also the overall winner of the 1988

Nestlé Smarties Book Prize The Nestlé Children's Book Prize, and Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for a time, was a set of annual awards for British children's books that ran from 1985 to 2007. It was administered by BookTrust, an independent charity that promotes books and r ...

. ''Includes list of winners 1985-2007'' She illustrated four further ''Little Bear'' books by Waddell, and his ''The Park in the Dark'' which won the 1989

Kurt Maschler Award The Kurt Maschler Award (1982 to 1999) was a British literary award that annually recognised one "work of imagination for children, in which text and illustration are integrated so that each enhances and balances the other." Winning authors and i ...

. She also illustrated books by other authors, including Sarah Hayes (''The Grumpalump''), and books by

Charles Causley Charles Stanley Causley CBE FRSL (24 August 1917 – 4 November 2003) was a Cornish poet, school teacher and writer. His work is often noted for its simplicity and directness as well as its associations with folklore, legends and magic, especi ...

and Jonathan London.

Personal life and death

Barbara Firth lived much of her life in

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

, with her sister Betty. She had a household full of pets including Waldo the tortoise, who featured in Lloyd's ''Waldo the Tortoise'', which she illustrated. She died on 18 February 2013 and was survived by her sister Betty and the centenarian Waldo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Firth, Barbara 1928 births 2013 deaths People from Cheshire (before 1974) English children's book illustrators Kate Greenaway Medal winners British women children's book illustrators