Charles William James Keeping (22 September 1924 – 16 May 1988) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complic ...

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

author and

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

. He made the illustrations for

Rosemary Sutcliff Rosemary Sutcliff (14 December 1920 – 23 July 1992) was an English novelist best known for children's books, especially historical fiction and retellings of myths and legends. Although she was primarily a children's author, some of her novel ...

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other t ...

s for children, and he created more than twenty

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

s. He also illustrated the complete works of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

for the

Folio Society The Folio Society is a London-based publisher, founded by Charles Ede in 1947 and incorporated in 1971. Formerly privately owned, it operates as an employee ownership trust since 2021. It produces illustrated hardback editions of classic fic ...

. Keeping won two

Kate Greenaway Medal The Kate Greenaway Medal is a British literary award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) ...

s from the

Library Association The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, since 2017 branded CILIP: The library and information association (pronounced ), is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the U ...

for the best children's book illustration of the year, for his own story '' Charley, Charlotte and the Golden Canary'' (1967) and for a new edition (1981) of

Alfred Noyes Alfred Noyes CBE (16 September 188025 June 1958) was an English poet, short-story writer and playwright. Early years Noyes was born in Wolverhampton, England the son of Alfred and Amelia Adams Noyes. When he was four, the family moved to Ab ...

's poem " The Highwayman". For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel named his edition of ''The Highwayman'' one of the top ten winning works, which composed the ballot for a public election of the nation's favourite. He also illustrated ''

The God Beneath the Sea ''The God Beneath the Sea'' is a children's novel based on Greek mythology, written by Leon Garfield and Edward Blishen, illustrated by Charles Keeping, and published by Longman in 1970. It was awarded the annual Carnegie Medal (Garfield & Bli ...

'', by

Leon Garfield Leon Garfield FRSL (14 July 1921 – 2 June 1996) was a British writer of fiction. He is best known for children's historical novels, though he also wrote for adults. He wrote more than thirty books and scripted '' Shakespeare: The Animated Ta ...

and

Edward Blishen Edward Blishen (29 April 1920 – 13 December 1996) was an English author and broadcaster. He may be known best for the first of two children's novels based on Greek mythology, written with Leon Garfield, illustrated by Charles Keeping, and pu ...

, which won the 1970 Carnegie Medal for children's literature. For his contribution as a children's illustrator Keeping was a runner-up for the

Hans Christian Andersen Award The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...

in 1974. His lithographs have been exhibited in London,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and the U.S., including at the 1958 Fifth International Biennial of Contemporary Color Lithography in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

. He has prints in many collections, including at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

Early life

Charles Keeping was born and grew up in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area e ...

, London, in a terraced house that housed three generations. He lived in an inner city environment of street markets and working horses that would inform his work his entire life. Charles and his elder sister, Grace, drew and made up stories from an early age, on surplus newsstand placards brought home by their father, Charles Keeping senior, who distributed newspapers to shops and newsstands in the area and boxed under the name Charlie Clarke. He later described his upbringing as "comfortable working class". He attended the Frank Bryant School for Boys in

Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the ...

, North London,Brigid Peppin & Lucy Micklethwait, ''Dictionary of British Book Illustrators: The Twentieth Century'', John Murray, 1983, pp. 168–69. leaving at the minimum age of 14, after which two of his aunts paid for him to take a correspondence course in art. He took a job with the book printing company William Clowes & Sons, and after the outbreak of the Second World War joined Durrants, an engineering company producing munitions. He also spent some time working as a gasman. In 1942, when he turned 18, he joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

as a wireless operator, serving four years. He returned to civvy street in 1946 with a profound depression and a belief that a head wound he had sustained had disfigured him on the inside as well as (temporarily) on the outside, and would cause him to turn evil like Dr Jekyll becoming Mr Hyde. He received treatment, was institutionalised for a time, and made a full recovery, but perhaps his sympathetic visual treatment of

Grendel Grendel is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem '' Beowulf'' (700–1000). He is one of the poem's three antagonists (along with his mother and the dragon), all aligned in opposition against the protagonist Beowulf. Grendel is feared by ...

, the monster from ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...

'', owes something to this period of his life. He applied for a grant to study art at the

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first polytechnic to open in London. The Polytechnic formally received a Royal charter in Aug ...

, but was initially turned down, so he read meters for a gas company during the day and took art classes in the evening. He finally got his grant and studied full-time from 1949 to 1952, completing the two-year Intermediate Examination in six months before specialising in illustration and lithography. His teachers included illustrators Stuart Tresilian and Nigel Lambourne, and lithographer Henry Trivick. He also worked as a life model, and on one such occasion in 1949 his demonstration of the functions of the muscles of the back attracted the eye of Renate Meyer, a fellow student who had left Germany with her family in 1933. They married in 1952 and four children.Rolli Murray,
Renate Keeping obituary
''The Guardian'', 27 April 2014

Career

Early work

Keeping went freelance after graduation, and spent four years drawing a comic strip for the '' Daily Herald'', but did not enjoy the editorial restrictions he had to work under. He also drew cartoons for the ''

Jewish Chronicle Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

'', the ''Middle Eastern Review'', and, later, ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pu ...

'', and his first book commission was a series of cartoon illustrations for a humorous health-promotion book called ''Why Die of Heart Disease?'' in 1953. He also did some work in advertising, and illustrated some educational textbooks.

Children's books

In 1956 he began to work through the artist's agent B. L. Kearley Ltd, whose rep Patsy Lambe referred him to Mabel George, editor of children's books at

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

. George commissioned him to illustrate

's historical children's novel '' The Silver Branch''. He was unenthused by the ancient Roman subject matter, but experimented with double page spreads and drawings in the margins, and was quickly assigned more books by Sutcliff and others,William Roger Louis, ''The History of Oxford University Press Vol III'', Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 481. including Henry Treece.Douglas Martin
"Celebrating Keeping"
''Books for Keeps'' No. 86, May 1994. This began a professional relationship with Oxford University Press, for whom he illustrated more books than for any other publisher. Keeping, along with

Victor Ambrus Victor Ambrus (born László Győző Ambrus, 19 August 1935 – 10 February 2021) was a Hungarian-born British illustrator of history, folk tales, and animal story books. He also became known from his appearances on the Channel 4 television ...

, established a new, exuberant style of illustration for children's historical fiction, refusing to shy away from the violence of warfare.

and

's retelling of Greek myths, ''

'', which Keeping illustrated in 1970, won the Carnegie Medal for that year. From the later 1960s Keeping, alongside illustrators like

Brian Wildsmith Brian Lawrence Wildsmith (22 January 1930 – 31 August 2016) was a British painter and children's book illustrator. He won the 1962 Kate Greenaway Medal for British children's book illustration, for the wordless alphabet book ''ABC''. In all h ...

and John Burningham, took advantage of advances in printing technology to move from black and white work to adventurous colour techniques.Michele Anstey and Geoff Bull, "The picture book: modern and postmodern", in Peter Hunt (ed.), ''International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature'', Routledge, 2004, p. 332. In 1966 he created his first full-colour

s, ''Black Dolly'' and ''Sean and the Carthorse'', both about mistreated working horses. He followed these with '' Charley, Charlotte and the Golden Canary'', a modern fairy tale about two children who grow up in the same street, are separated when one family moves to a new tower block, and are reunited thanks to a pet

canary Canary originally referred to the island of Gran Canaria on the west coast of Africa, and the group of surrounding islands (the Canary Islands). It may also refer to: Animals Birds * Canaries, birds in the genera '' Serinus'' and ''Crithagra'' ...

, which depicts the gradual disappearance of the London of Keeping's childhood, a theme he would persistently revisit. The full-colour illustrations are messy and spontaneous, using intense colour, sponge texturing and

wax resist Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give lo ...

, and won Keeping his first Greenaway Medal. ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' concluded a very short review, "Intense colors in striking combinations overwhelm the minimal story." Keeping created 15 full-colour picture books for

, and several for other publishers. ''Joseph's Yard'' (1969) and ''Through the Window'' (1970), two of his finest, were also produced as short films for the BBC's "Storyline" programme. ''Through the Window'' in particular showcases many of Keeping's techniques and themes. Told through the eyes of a small boy watching events in the street outside from his bedroom window, the illustrations are full of intense evening light and colour, movement, and even, when a horse-drawn dray rattles across a double-page spread, virtual sound. Other picture books include ''Richard'' (1973), about a day in the life of a police horse; ''Wasteground Circus'' (1975), on the transient but magical effect on two young boys of the circus coming to town; and ''Willie's Fire Engine'' (1980), a romantic, dreamlike tale of a young

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

boy's dream of being a firefighter. In the 1980s Oxford University Press created a new format for Keeping - the black and white picture book for older children. Keeping created four books in this format: '' The Highwayman'' (1981), illustrating the 1906 poem by

in gruesome detail, for which he won his second Greenaway Medal; ''

'' (1982), adapted from the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

epic by

Kevin Crossley-Holland Kevin John William Crossley-Holland (born 7 February 1941) is an English translator, children's author and poet. His best known work is probably the Arthur trilogy (2000–2003), for which he won the Guardian Prize and other recognition. Cros ...

, in which the illustrations subverted the text with a certain sympathy for the monster; ''The Wedding Ghost'' (1985), an original story by

; and ''

The Lady of Shalott "The Lady of Shalott" is a lyrical ballad by the 19th-century English poet Alfred Tennyson and one of his best-known works. Inspired by the 13th-century Italian short prose text '' Donna di Scalotta'', the poem tells the tragic story of Elain ...

'' (1986), illustrating the 1833/1842

Arthurian King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

poem by

Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

. All were illustrated in evocative line and wash. The influence of

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

illustrator John Bauer can most clearly be seen on ''Beowulf''. Keeping continued to produce colour picture books from time to time, including ''Railway Passage'', which was Highly Commended for the 1974 Greenaway Medal; ''Sammy Streetsinger'' (1984), about a subway busker's rise to fame as a pop star and subsequent return to happy obscurity; and his final book, ''Adam and Paradise Island'', another story of the changing landscape of London, which was published posthumously in 1989.

Classic fiction

In 1964 Keeping illustrated his first book for the

, an edition of

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, '' Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poe ...

's ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent re ...

''. He disliked the book, finding the characters unconvincing, and so illustrated them in two-colour lithographs in an expressionist style, paying little attention to the faces. He had been contracted for twelve illustrations, but delivered twenty-two, and asked the publisher to choose the twelve best. He followed this with

Erich Maria Remarque Erich Maria Remarque (, ; born Erich Paul Remark; 22 June 1898 – 25 September 1970) was a German-born novelist. His landmark novel ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1928), based on his experience in the Imperial German Army during World ...

's ''

All Quiet on the Western Front ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (german: Im Westen nichts Neues, lit=Nothing New in the West) is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental trauma ...

'' (1966) in a similar style. For the same publisher he illustrated ''Ghost Stories of M. R. James'' (1973),

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whig politician. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twi ...

's ''

The Castle of Otranto ''The Castle of Otranto'' is a novel by Horace Walpole. First published in 1764, it is generally regarded as the first gothic novel. In the second edition, Walpole applied the word 'Gothic' to the novel in the subtitle – ''A Gothic Story''. Se ...

'' (1976) and

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'' (2 volumes, 1976) in two-colour lithographs, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky's ''

The Idiot ''The Idiot'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Идиот, Idiót) is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published serially in the journal ''The Russian Messenger'' in 1868–69. The title is an ...

'' (1971) in line drawings. Beginning in 1978 with ''

The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with '' Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to ...

'', Keeping took on the mammoth task of illustrating the complete works of

for the Folio Society. His knowledge of the vanishing world of industrial London made him the perfect man for the job. The books were originally to be produced by

letterpress printing Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing. Using a printing press, the process allows many copies to be produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. A worker com ...

, meaning the illustrations must be pure line drawings with no tones or washes. When they came to be published more modern printing techniques were used which would have allowed Keeping a full range of tones, but he had started with line drawings, so he used the same technique for the entire series, illustrating two books a year until he completed the task with ''

Martin Chuzzlewit ''The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit'' (commonly known as ''Martin Chuzzlewit'') is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between 1842 and 1844. While he was writing it ...

'' in 1988. He also worked for another publisher of classic fiction, the Geneva-based Heron Books, for whom he illustrated works by

Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for '' The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for '' The Moonstone'' (1868), which has b ...

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language; though he did not spe ...

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxle ...

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

Nevil Shute Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect ...

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as '' Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

and H. G. Wells.

Other book illustration

In 1975 Keeping produced perhaps his most personal work, ''Cockney Ding Dong'', a lavish 190-page volume collecting and illustrating the traditional songs of the family singalongs of his childhood. A record of some the songs was also released, featuring the voices of members of Keeping's family. Charles himself sings "They're Moving Father's Grave to Build a Sewer!"

Teaching

At the invitation of Henry Trivick, Keeping continued to use the printing presses at Regent Street Polytechnic after his graduation, and from 1956 to 1963 he lectured there one day a week. From 1963 he was a visiting lecturer at Croydon College of Art, initially in illustration, and after 1979 in lithography. His students included Fiona French.

Personal life

Charles Keeping 1924-1988 illustrator lived here

Charles Keeping died of a brain tumour on 16 May 1988. His widow, Renate, ran the Keeping Gallery, displaying his and her own work for many years. She died in 2014.

Reception

Keeping's work was controversial in some quarters. Some felt his work too flashy, and illustrator

Edward Ardizzone Edward Jeffrey Irving Ardizzone, (16 October 1900 – 8 November 1979), who sometimes signed his work "DIZ", was an English painter, print-maker and war artist, and the author and illustrator of books, many of them for children. For ''Tim All ...

is said to have referred to him as "that vulgar artist". Others felt that the frankness and violence of his work, and his taste for the morbid and macabre, were unsuitable for children. His biographer has commented, Keeping's former editor Mabel George said of him, "I have always had a strong feeling that Charles was a true genius... it is my belief that he came to maturity very slowly (not in terms of technique, at which he was a master from his earliest days) but from the point of view of his self-confidence as an artist. ... he was all the time growing and developing as a man whose whole life, heart and mind, was dedicated to exploring the human situation in a universe that he found both beautiful and terrifying." His former teacher and fellow illustrator Nigel Lambourne has described him as "one of the few ''great'' illustrators we've got. A superb draughtsman, and he had – for all his marvellously brash, outgoing manner – an ability to tear up purposively anything that didn't work."

Awards

The biennial

conferred by the International Board on Books for Young People is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. Keeping was one of three runners-up for the illustration award in 1974 and was the British nominee again in 1978. He won a Golden Apple award at the

Biennial of Illustration Bratislava The Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (BIB) is one of the oldest international honours for children's book illustrators. First granted in 1967 to Yasuo Segawa (Japan), it is one of the more prestigious children's book awards today, along with t ...

in 1975. He won several awards for particular books. * 1967

, '' Charley, Charlotte and the Golden Canary'', written by Keeping * 1972 Francis Williams Award for Illustration, ''Tinker Tailor: Folk Song Tales'' (New York: World), tunes "arranged for voice and piano by K. Neil Slater"
WorldCat
* 1977 Francis Williams Award for Illustration, ''The Wildman'', written by

* 1981 Kate Greenaway Medal, '' The Highwayman'', written by

(1906) * 1987

Kurt Maschler Award The Kurt Maschler Award (1982 to 1999) was a British literary award that annually recognised one "work of imagination for children, in which text and illustration are integrated so that each enhances and balances the other." Winning authors and ill ...

, or the Emil, ''Jack the Treacle Eater'' (Macmillan), with writer

Charles Causley Charles Stanley Causley CBE FRSL (24 August 1917 – 4 November 2003) was a British poet, school teacher and writer. His work is often noted for its simplicity and directness as well as its associations with folklore, legends and magic, espec ...

for integrated of writing and illustration in a British children's book * 1988

W H Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and ...

Illustration Award, ''Charles Keeping's Classic Tales of the Macabre'', written by various authors Keeping was also a runner-up for at least three Greenaway Medals, which then recognised the year's best children's book illustration by a

British subject The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...

: * 1969, ''Joseph's Yard'', written by himself * 1970, ''

'', written by

and

(who jointly won the annual British Carnegie Medal) * 1974, ''Railway Passage'' (Oxford), written by himself ''Railway Passage'' was the first runner up "Highly Commended" for the Medal. Both distinctions were abandoned after 2002.

Notes

References

External links

*
London Borough of Bromley marker at Keeping's former home
;Works by Keeping
The Keeping Gallery
selected pictures by Keeping
Extract from ''Elidor'' by Alan Garner, including illustrations by Keeping

Charles Keeping illustration

past auction results * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keeping, Charles 1924 births 1988 deaths People from Lambeth English children's book illustrators English illustrators English children's writers Kate Greenaway Medal winners Writers who illustrated their own writing Deaths from brain cancer in England Royal Navy personnel of World War II Royal Navy sailors

Early life

Career

Early work

Children's books

Classic fiction

Other book illustration

Teaching

Personal life

Reception

Awards

Notes

References

Further reading

External links