Michael Foreman

Michael Foreman was born in the fishing village of Pakefield in Suffolk. His mother ran the village shop, and Michael used to deliver the newspapers. The illustrated magazines that were sold in the shop often inspired him. At the age of fifteen, Michael began to study art and had his first children’s book published when he was still a student. Michael has worked on magazines, book jackets, animated films, TV adverts, and even for the police, sketching criminals described by witnesses. As well as illustrating many of his own books, Michael has illustrated over a hundred books for authors such as Shakespeare, J. M. Barrie, the Brothers Grimm, Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde. Michael has travelled widely – to Africa, Japan, the Arctic Circle, China and Malaysia, the Himalayas, Siberia and New Zealand – to research his books. He has won several major awards, including the Kate Greenaway Medal for “Long Neck and Thunderfoot”, and again for “War Boy”.