Biography

Burningham was born April 27, 1936 in Farnham

Farnham

Farnham is a town in Surrey, England, within the Borough of Waverley. The town is situated some 42 miles southwest of London in the extreme west of Surrey, adjacent to the border with Hampshire...

, Surrey, England to Charles and Jessie (Mackintosh) Burningham. After primary school, he joined the Friends' Ambulance Unit

Friends' Ambulance Unit

The Friends' Ambulance Unit was a volunteer ambulance service, founded by individual members of the British Religious Society of Friends , in line with their Peace Testimony. The FAU operated from 1914–1919, 1939–1946 and 1946-1959 in 25 different countries around the world...

 in 1953. When he was 20, he attended the Central School of Art and graduated in 1959. After assorted work on posters for London and British Transport and animated films, he began his writing career in 1963 with the book Borka: The Adventures of a Goose With No Feathers

Borka: The Adventures of a Goose With No Feathers

Borka: The Adventures of a Goose With No Feathers is a children's book written by John Burningham and originally published in 1963. The book won the 1963 Kate Greenaway Medal....

, published by Jonathan Cape, which won the 1963 Kate Greenaway Medal

Kate Greenaway Medal

The Kate Greenaway Medal was established in the United Kingdom in 1955 in honour of the children's illustrator, Kate Greenaway. The medal is given annually to an outstanding work of illustration in children's literature. It is awarded by Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...

.. Cape were currently looking for an illustrator for a forthcoming childrens adventure serial Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car is a children's book written by Ian Fleming for his son Caspar, with illustrations by John Burningham...

written by Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming

Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...

, their most successful author at that time. . Fleming had suggested cartoonist 'Trog' (Wally Fawkes) of the Daily Mail, but the newspaper would not allow the illustrator of their popular Flook strip to work for an author whose James Bond

James Bond

James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 stories were adapted as a comic strip for their arch-rival Daily Express. Fleming consulted his motor engineer friend Charles Amherst Villiers, who produced a sketch based on Fleming's description of the magical car- this drawing was passed to Cape's popular new illustrator John Burningham, who was asked to illustrate the whole series on the strength of his debut story Borka. Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was originally published in three volumes, 1964-1965, and an omnibus volume followed in 1968. Burningham's witty and timeless art-work, along with Fleming's imaginative text, led Chitty to become the most famous and best loved car in fiction

Burningham married author/illustrator Helen Gillian Oxenbury

Helen Oxenbury

Helen Gillian Oxenbury is an award-winning illustrator of children's picture books. She lives with her husband, the illustrator John Burningham, in north London.- Background :...

 in 1964, and continued to write. His children's book Mr. Gumpy's Outing

Mr. Gumpy's Outing

Mr. Gumpy's Outing is a children's book written by John Burningham.-Awards:Mr. Gumpy's Outing has received the following awards:*The 1970 Kate Greenaway Medal...

won the 1970 Kate Greenaway Medal, making Burningham a two time winner of the award. Since his first book, he has contributed to over sixty other books, and has received many awards, including the 1980 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis

Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis

The Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis 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 literature. It is Germany's only state-funded literary award. In the past, authors from many countries...

. His 1984 book Granpa was the basis for a 1989 animated film, also called Granpa.