A beautifully illustrated, engaging look at the limitlessness of the imagination. Classic Burningham.
John Burningham studied illustration and graphic design at the Central School of Art, graduating with distinction in 1959. Many illustration commissions followed including iconic posters for London Transport, before the publication of Borka: the Adventures of a Goose with No Feathers, John's first book for children (Cape, 1963) which won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration and heralded the beginning of an extraordinary career. John Burningham has since written and illustrated over thirty picture books, that have been translated and distributed all over the world. These feature his classic and much loved children's books including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, by Ian Fleming (Jonathan Cape, 1964); Mr Gumpy's Outing (Jonathan Cape, 1970) also awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal; Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne (Jonathan Cape, 1972); The Shopping Basket (Random House, 1980); The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (Penguin/Puffin, 1983); Granpa (Jonathan Cape, 1984) later made into an animated film and Oi! Get off our Train (Jonathan Cape, 1989) and various books for adults England (Jonathan Cape, 1992); France (Jonathan Cape, 1998); The Time of Your Life (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2002) and When We Were Young (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2004). John is married to the illustrator, Helen Oxenbury. They have three children, three grandchildren and a dog named Miles. They live in London.
Burningham's a dab hand at leaving a story hanging in mid-air, and,
a s ever, this moving and poetic hymn to the power of imagination
invites and rewards any amount of personal interpretation
*Guardian*
The book has its moments of suspense and an engagingly suggestive
ending, but best of all is the succinct, expressive, sketchy style,
which communicates emotions, characters, settings and atmosphere
with great precision
*The Sunday Times*
Burningham's story taps into the limitless realm of a child's
imagination. It's a classic tale from one of the best around
*Metro Life*
The story has a strong appeal because it is a fantasy that is true
to reality: everyone has a kind of magic bed
*TES*
An ideal showcast for what Burningham does best: blending domestic
detail with expressionistic emotion and scale
*Independent*
Burningham's (Hey! Get Off Our Train) many fans may be disappointed with this underdone caper. When Georgie outgrows his little-boy bed, his father takes him to an antique store, where the shopkeeper sells them a bed that he says is "magic," and adds, "you could travel in it." Faint writing on the headboard offers instructions to "say your prayers" and then say a word that is no longer entirely legible, yet begins with "m" and ends in "y." Georgie has no luck guessing the magic word the first night, but on the second he gets it right and soars over the city in his bed, transported to a field where gnomes and fairies read him a bedtime story. On other flights he visits the jungle and helps a lost tiger find its parents, discovers a pirate treasure chest in a cave, gives a ride to some tired geese, etc. The story loses its sparkle after the lad's last journey; his family goes off on holiday and when they return the boy's granny has bought him a new bed and has taken "that nasty old bed" to the dump, where Georgie retrieves it. Burningham's illustrations range from fanciful and luminous to sketchy. The ending, in which readers are told, "If you lie very still in your bed and find your magic word, perhaps you could travel far away like Georgie," seems a weak bridge to the fantasy elements here. Ages 3-8. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Burningham's a dab hand at leaving a story hanging in mid-air, and,
a s ever, this moving and poetic hymn to the power of imagination
invites and rewards any amount of personal interpretation -- Joanna
Carey * Guardian *
The book has its moments of suspense and an engagingly suggestive
ending, but best of all is the succinct, expressive, sketchy style,
which communicates emotions, characters, settings and atmosphere
with great precision -- Nicolette Jones * The Sunday Times *
Burningham's story taps into the limitless realm of a child's
imagination. It's a classic tale from one of the best around --
Damian Kelleher * Metro Life *
The story has a strong appeal because it is a fantasy that is true
to reality: everyone has a kind of magic bed -- Jane Doonan * TES
*
An ideal showcast for what Burningham does best: blending domestic
detail with expressionistic emotion and scale -- Sally Williams *
Independent *
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