Edward Ardizzone biography in Biographies from the artzine on artrepublic.com

In 1956 Ardizzone won the first Kate Greenaway medal for the pictures in the Tim books, and the illustrations continue to receive universal acclaim from both young and old. There were 11 Tim books in total published from 1936 – 1977.

He was born in Haiphon, French Indo-China, and at the age of five returned to England with his mother. They moved from place to place, but they were never too far from Ipswich where Edward’s grandmother resided. At Ipswich the young Ardizzone explored the docks, met the sailors and established the memories which would later form the basis for the famous Little Tim books.

Through his school years and into his first job in London as a clerk he developed his interest in drawing. On inheriting a sum of money from his father Ardizzone left his job as clerk, got married to Catherine Anderson, and set up as a freelance artist.

Just before the WWII his first book ‘Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain’ was published. It was inspired by the stories he created to tell his three children, Christianna, Philip and Nicholas when they were little.

Ardizzone always maintained that the art of a children’s book illustrator was particularly good when it was created as much for the child within the illustrator, as for the child viewing the illustrations. And this, almost certainly, is why the Tim books have just as much appeal for adults as they do for children; and why, too, there is no condescension in either the writing or the illustrations for the books.

He continued to both write and illustrate a wide range of children’s books right up until his death in 1979.