David McKee
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David John McKee (2 January 1935 – 6 April 2022), was a British writer and illustrator, chiefly of children's books and animations. For his contribution as a children's illustrator, he was UK nominee for the biennial international
Hans Christian Andersen Award The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...
in 2006.


Early life

David John McKee was born on 2 January 1935 and raised in Tavistock,
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
, England. After attending
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
, he studied at Plymouth College of Art. While still at college, he began selling one-off cartoons, particularly to the national press. On leaving college, he continued this to support himself while painting, drawing regularly for, among others, '' Punch'', ''
Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
'', and '' The Times Educational Supplement''. The first book he sold was of a story he had told at college, ''Two Can Toucan''. It is about a
toucan Toucans (, ) are Neotropical birds in the family Ramphastidae. They are most closely related to the Semnornis, Toucan barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful Beak, bills. The family includes five genus, genera and over ...
who can carry two cans of paint on its enormous bill. This was published by Abelard-Schuman in 1964; a 1985 edition with new illustrations by McKee was re-issued in 2001 by Andersen Press.


Writer and illustrator

McKee produced several characters who formed the basis of book series, including '' Elmer the Patchwork Elephant''. ''Elmer'' was first published by Dobson Books in 1968, and was re-issued by Andersen Press in 1989. His 29 Elmer books have sold more than 10 million copies and have appeared in more than 60 languages being adapted as a stage play and an animated series. The character has spawned a range of merchandise, including soft toys, from London Emblem and Elmer board books. McKee illustrated the songs "Toy Boy" and "Lonely Alcoholic" in singer-songwriter Mika's extended play '' Songs for Sorrow''. One of McKee's earliest books, ''Six Men'' (1972, 2011), teaches how a war can develop. He illustrated books by other authors, including some of the more recent Paddington Bear books. He also illustrated books written by his mother, Violet McKee, and by his son, Chuck McKee. He published also somes books under the pseudonym of Violet Easton.


Films and television

The
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
used some of McKee's books on television and asked about the possibility of a more extensive project. The result was the development of a series about one of McKee's characters, the resulting series was '' Mr Benn'', which ran for thirteen episodes first broadcast in 1971 and 1972 and was repeated regularly over the following two decades. Five films for the
Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...
fund followed, then a series of films based on the King Rollo books, with two friends, Clive Juster and Leo Nielsen. The company King Rollo Films was started. The company maintained its success, with McKee being involved on projects usually as a writer. They have been responsible for various films, including Tony Ross's
Towser Towser is a British series of children's books created by veteran children's writer and illustrator Tony Ross and published by Anderson Press. The series is about an intelligent dog, Towser, and his friends The King, The Wizard, Dr. Smelly and ...
, Eric Hill's Spot the Dog, and Lucy Cousins's Maisy. The company plans to produce 26 animated films of Elmer. King Rollo Films has produced many other animations, including '' Spot the Dog'' and the animated stories within the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's children's programme ''
Fimbles ''Fimbles'' is a British children's television series created and produced by Novel Entertainment. The series has 200 episodes, airing from September 23, 2002 to September 24, 2004 with repeats airing until early 2012 on CBeebies. The Fimbles a ...
''.


Personal life and honours

McKee had homes in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and the
south of France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...
where he lived with his partner Bakhta, a French-Algerian art-dealer. He shared with her an interest in collecting drawings and African tribal art. He won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 1987. His previous wife was Barbara Ennuss, with whom he had three children. He was awarded a BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020, in recognition of his whole body of work. He declared it a "shock" but "fantastic", and said he'd "never been one for the spotlight or winning awards". McKee was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Plymouth College of Art in 2011.


Death

McKee died on 6 April 2022 after a short illness. He was 87.


Bibliography

*''Bronto's Wings'' (1964) *''Two Can Toucan'' (1964) *''The Poor Farmer and the Robber Knights'' (1969) *''Mr Benn'' (1970) *''Six Men'' (1972, 2011) *''The Magician and the Sorcerer'' (1974) *''Tusk Tusk'' (1978) *''King Rollo and the Bread'' (1979) *''King Rollo and the New Shoes'' (1979) *''King Rollo and the Birthday'' (1979) *'' Not Now, Bernard'' (1980) *''I Hate My Teddybear'' (1983) *''King Rollo and the Letter'' (1984) *''The Hill and the Rock'' (1984) *''Two Can Toucan'' (1985) *''Two Monsters'' (1985) *''The Sad Story of Veronica'' (1987) *''Snow Woman'' (1987) *''Who's a Clever Baby Then?'' (1988) *''Elmer'' (1989) *''The Monster and the Teddy Bear'' (1989) *''Elmer Again'' (1991) *''Zebra's Hiccups'' (1991) *''Elmer on Stilts'' (1993) *''The School Bus Comes At 8 O’clock'' (1993) *''Elmer and Wilbur'' (1994) *''Isabel's Noisy Tummy'' (1994) *''Elmer in the Snow'' (1995) *''Charlotte's Piggy Bank'' (1996) *''The Elmer Pop up Book'' (1996) *''Elmer and the Wind'' (1997) *''Prince Peter and the Teddy Bear'' (1997) *''Elmer Plays Hide and Seek'' (1998) *''Elmer and the Lost Teddy'' (1999) *''Mary's Secret'' (1999) *''Elmer and the Stranger'' (2000) *''Look! There's Elmer'' (2000) *''Elmer and Grandpa Eldo'' (2001) *''King Rollo and the New Stockings'' (2001) *''Mr Benn – Gladiator'' (2001) *''Elmer's Concert'' (2001) *''Elmer and Butterfly'' (2002) *''Elmer's New Friend'' (2002) *''Elmer and the Hippos'' (2003) *''The Adventures of Charmin the Bear'' (illustrated By Joanna Quinn, 2003) *''Who is Mrs. Green?'' (2003) *''The Conquerors'' (2004) *''Denver'' (2010) *''Elmer's Walk'' (2018)


References


External links

* *
David McKee at Andersen Press
* Andrew Billen
Billen and Benn
(interview with David McKee), ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', 19 January 2008. (via archive.org)
Critical analysis of Not Now, Bernard
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McKee, David 1935 births 2022 deaths Alumni of the Plymouth College of Art British children's book illustrators English animators English children's writers Writers who illustrated their own writing Writers from Tavistock