Colin McNaughton

Colin McNaughton (born 18 May 1951) is a British writer and illustrator of over seventy children's books.

He is also a poet, focusing mainly on humorous children's poetry.

He trained in graphic design at the Central School of Art and Design in London followed by an MA in illustration at the Royal College of Art.

He lives in London.

McNaughton was born in Wallsend, Northumberland in 1951, the son of a shipyard worker and a school dinner lady.

As a child, there was little indication that he would become one of Britain's leading creators of children's picture books.

There were no books at all in the family home, but there were always comics, his formative literature, and their slapstick humour has been a lasting influence.

McNaughton's first book was published while he was still at the RCA.

His exuberant picture books with their comic-strip techniques, often take the form of an extended joke:

When I was little, adults were always telling me to `Stop Being Silly' and to `Stop Messing About'.

It took me far, far, too many years to realize that these were the only two things in life that I was any good at.

Now, it's what I do all day.

It's how I write my books: I get an idea and I mess about with it.

I do silly things with it.

I play with it.

McNaughton's books include the Preston Pig series: Suddenly!, Boo!, Oops!, Goal!, Hmm... and Shh (Don't Tell Mister Wolf!) all of which feature Preston Pig and his near escapes from Mr Wolf.

A television series was developed from these books by Link Entertainment (which would later become part of the now-defunct Entertainment Rights) for CITV.

His most notable book is perhaps There's an Awful Lot of Weirdos in Our Neighbourhood, a collection of poetry written in conjunction with Allan Ahlberg, and which was published in 1989.

Colin McNaughton has worked with Allan Ahlberg on a number of books, including three of the Happy Families series, Mr and Mrs Hay the Horse,

Miss Brick the Builders' Baby and Mrs Jolly's Joke Shop.

McNaughton won the British Book Award, Design and Production in 1989 for Jolly Roger and in 1993 for Making Friends with Frankenstein.

He won the Kurt Maschler Award, or "the Emil", in 1991 for Have You Seen Who's Just Moved in Next Door to Us? (Walker), which he wrote and illustrated.

That award from Maschler Publications and Booktrust annually recognised one "work of imagination for children, in which text and illustration are integrated so that each enhances and balances the other."

He won the 1996 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize in category 0–5 years for Oops!.

McNaughton worked with illustrator Satoshi Kitamura to create Once Upon an Ordinary School Day, published in 2004.

I suppose what I'm striving for these days, in my books, is to do more with less.

I'm looking for that kind of quality that the classic, two minute, pop song has; it's great when you first hear it and it's still great thirty years later.

It's a lovely contradiction; it's of the moment but it's also timeless.

That's what I'm after