Anthony Lee Ross (born 10 August 1938) is a British author and illustrator of children's

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 ...

. In Britain, he is best known for writing and illustrating his Little Princess books and for illustrating the Horrid Henry series by Francesca Simon, both of which have become TV series for

Milkshake! ''Milkshake!'' (stylised as milkshake!) is a British Children's television series, children's television programming block on 5 (British TV channel), 5. Originally launched in 1997, it is currently aimed at children aged 2 to 7. History Th ...

and

CITV CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged ...

respectively based on his artwork. He also illustrates the works of

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams (), is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little ...

. He has also illustrated the Amber Brown series by

Paula Danziger Paula Danziger (August 18, 1944 – July 8, 2004) was an American children's author who wrote more than 30 books, including her 1974 debut '' The Cat Ate My Gymsuit'', for children's and young adult audiences. At the time of her death, all her ...

, the '' Dr. Xargle'' series by Jeanne Willis, and the Harry The Poisonous Centipede series by

Lynne Reid Banks Lynne Reid Banks (; 31 July 1929 – 4 April 2024) was a British author of books for children and adults, including ''The Indian in the Cupboard'', which has sold over 15 million copies and has been successfully adapted to film. Her first novel ...

Early life

Ross was born on 10 August 1938 in London. His parents are Eric Turle Lee Ross and Effie Ross (née Griffiths). He attended Helsby Grammar School and studied at the Liverpool School of Art and Design.

Career

Ross has had many jobs, including a cartoonist, graphic designer, then art director at an advertising agency. In 1976, his long association with the fledgling

Andersen Press Andersen Press is a British book publishing company. It was founded in 1976 by Klaus Flugge, and was named after Hans Christian Andersen "because it is easier to pronounce and spell than Flugge". Random House has a holding in the company and a ...

began with the publication of his re-telling of

Goldilocks and the Three Bears "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an impudent old woman who enters the forest home of three anthropomorphic bachelor bears while th ...

. For several years he was senior lecturer in art and head of the illustration course at

Manchester Polytechnic Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

. Among

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

participating libraries, the eight most widely held works by Ross are Amber Brown books written by Danziger. The most widely held book written and illustrated by Ross is ''I Want Two Birthdays'' (2008), which is represented in ten languages."Ross, Tony"

. Retrieved 28 August 2012.

Awards

In 1986 Ross won the

Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis The (German Youth Literature Award) is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. It is Germany's only ...

, picture books category, for ''Ich komm dich holen!'', the German-language edition of ''I'm coming to get you!'' (Andersen, 1984). For the third Dr. Xargle book with Willis, ''Dr. Xargle's book of Earth Tiggers'', about cats, he was a highly commended runner-up for the 1990

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 ...

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 by a British subject. 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 2004.

Notes

References

External links

Tony Ross
at publisher HarperCollins
Tony Ross
at

Tony Ross
at Penguin Group * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Tony 1938 births Living people Academics of Manchester Metropolitan University Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University English children's book illustrators English children's writers Writers from London