Mark Burgess (born 26 April 1957;

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Simon Goswell for two books) is best known as an English author and illustrator of

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

. He has illustrated books by Tony Bradman and Martin Waddell. Among his most recent assignments, he illustrated ''

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood ''Return to the Hundred Acre Wood'' is a ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' novel published on 5 October 2009. Written by David Benedictus and illustrated by Mark Burgess, it was the first such book since 1928 and introduced the character Lottie the Otter. I ...

'', the authorized sequel of

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh (also known as Edward Bear, Pooh Bear or simply Pooh) is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by ...

. Burgess also designs

greeting card A greeting card is a piece of card stock, usually with an illustration or photo, made of high quality paper featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthday ...

s and is a

computer programmer A programmer, computer programmer or coder is an author of computer source code someone with skill in computer programming. The professional titles ''software developer'' and ''software engineer'' are used for jobs that require a progr ...

.Burgess, Mark
Mark Burgess - Artist and Writer

/ref> Additionally, Burgess has colored and adapted the newer editions of various classic children's books that were drawn by the late

E. H. Shepard Ernest Howard Shepard (10 December 1879 – 24 March 1976) was an English artist and book illustrator. He is known especially for illustrations of the Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic animal and soft toy characters in ''The Wind in the Willow ...

and Peggy Fortnum.

Life

Mark Simon Burgess was born in

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater ...

on 26 April 1957 to John Frederick Orchard Burgess and Mona Goswell. He was the third child among his four siblings. He attended boarding school at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

in Sussex, England from 1968 to 1974 in the Middleton B

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

. In 1975, Burgess began studying at the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

of the

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

.Lee.
Return to the Hundred Acre Wood review
'. Fantasy Book Review. 10 November 2009.UCL Art Collections is undertaking a digitisation project of its holdings from the Slade School of Art.
." UCL Art Collections. University College London. JULY 2009. Graduating from there with a B.A. in

Fine Art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

in 1979,"About the Author
Teddy Time
Amazon. he began working as a freelance author and illustrator of children's books, magazines and greetings cards (of which he has designed over 500). He also briefly worked at the

London Zoo London Zoo, previously known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens and sometimes called Regent's Park Zoo, is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828 and was originally intended to be used as a colle ...

as well as in a library in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. The first book Burgess illustrated is Martin Waddell ''Harriet and the Crocodiles'', published in 1983. He currently lives in

Taunton, Somerset Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

Mark Burgess
- Frances Lincoln Publishers and is married to

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

-born artist Rosemary Benson, who is his senior by 9 years and who also attended the Slade School of Art from 1977 to 1979.

Style

While Burgess has written and illustrated various books in his own style, his ability to reproduce the style of other (deceased) artists has been noted on more than one occasion. For example, the book ''Dogs' Night'', by Meredith Hooper, begun with Allan Curless as the illustrator. However, since Curless died before its completion, Burgess finished the job such "that most readers would be hard-pressed to identify which artist did which pictures", according to Lauren P. Gattilia for Education World.Gattilia, Lauren P.
It's a Dog's Life: Three New Dog Books to Stimulate Kids' Imaginations
'. Education World(.com). 8 March 2000. Burgess also illustrated ''

'' in the style of

, whose work he admired. When speaking of his work on that book, Burgess said:

Reception

As a writer

Chloe Spooner from ''The Bookbag'' praised Burgess' ''Where Teddy Bears Come From'' (illustrated by Russell Ayto) writing, "The author Mark Burgess has created a wonderful world for children here in this book, and the extra dash of Christmas magic just makes an already lovely story all the more charming."

As an illustrator

Burgess shared a 2002 '' Blue Hen Book Award'' in the Picture Book Winner category for his and Allan Curless' illustrations in ''Dogs' Night''. Burgess' illustration of ''Return to the Hundred Acre Wood'' in particular received good reviews in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' as well as in ''Fantasy Book Review'' and ''Kidsreads.com''. In ''The Times'', Ann Thwaite wrote, "With the new book, Burgess seems indispensable."Thwaite, An
Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus, illustrated by Mark Burgess
/ref> Jana Siciliano of '' Kidsreads.com'', wrote:Siciliano, Jana
Review: Return to the Hundred Acre Wood
'. Kidsreads.com. Access date: 6 September 2010. However, Susan Perren, children's book columnist of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', had reservations on the drawings found in ''Return to the Hundred Acre Wood''. Perren wrote, "This bad-tempered donkey might say, too, that Mark Burgess, as good an illustrator as he might be, is no Ernest Shepherd, and anyway, where are all those lovely line drawings we enjoyed so much in the original?"Perren, Susan
Milne redux? ‘Pooh!' we say
. ''The Globe and Mail''. Published on 19 November 2009. Updated on Tuesday, 24 Nov. 2009. Burgess also illustrated the 2016 authorised sequel to

, The Best Bear in All the World and the 90th anniversary special Winnie-the-Pooh Meets the Queen.

Bibliography

As of 2010, he has written and illustrated over 30 of his own books, and has illustrated an additional 36 books by other authors. Author and illustrator: #''What Thomas Did'' (1986) #''Is it a Tiger?'' (1987) #''Monkey Business'' (1987) #''Lucky Thunder '' (1989) #''Feeling Beastly'' (1989) #''The Cat's Pyjamas'' (1990; United States title: ''The Cat's Pajamas'') #''Can't Get To Sleep'' (1990) #''The Phantom Phunbook'' (1991) #''The Birthday Joke Book'' (1991) #''One Little Teddy Bear'' (1991 ) #''Zoe and the Space Pirates'' (1991) #''The Spangly Dragon and other funny poems'' (1992) #''Feeling Peckish'' (poetry collection) (1992) #''Ho, Ho, Ho! - Bumper Christmas Issue'' (1993) #''C.A.T. Crusoe'' (1993) #''Mutiny at Crossbones Bay'' (1994) #''Night, Night'' (1994) #''Hello, Day'' (1994) #''Hannah's Hotel: Rainy Weather'' (1994) #''Hannah's Hotel: The Late Arrivals'' (1994) #''Hannah's Hotel: Many Happy Returns'' (1994) #''Hannah's Hotel: Beside The Sea'' (1994) #''Teddy and Rabbit's Picnic Outing'' (1995) #''Teddy and Rabbit's Muddy Bicycle'' (1995) #''Teddy and Rabbit's Runaway Washing'' (1995) #''Teddy and Rabbit's Birthday Surprise'' (1995) #''Teddy and Rabbit's Shop '' (1996) #''Teddy Bears' Picnic'' (1997) #''Teddy Time'' (2000) #''Little Duck on the Moon'' (2002) Author only: #''Agent Spike & the Vegetables of Doom'' (2003; U.S. title: ''When Vegetables Attack'') #''Theo Slugg in Low Spirits'' (2004; under

Simon Goswell) #''Theo Slugg in Dead Trouble'' (2004; under pen name Simon Goswell) #''Where Teddy Bears Come From'' (2008) Illustrator only: #''Harriet and the Crocodiles'' (1983) #''Harriet and the Haunted School'' (1984) #''The Elephant Joke Book. '' (1985) #''Mary had a Crocodile'' (1985) #''A Very Mouse Joke Book'' (1986) #''Harriet and the Robot'' (1986) #''The Holiday Joke Book'' (1987) #''Jokes From Outer Space'' (1987) #''I'm a Two Times Tabler'' (1987) #''I'm a Three Times Tabler'' (1987) #''I'm a Four Times Tabler'' (1987) #''I'm a Five Times Tabler'' (1987) #''The Return of the Elephant Joke Book'' (1988) #''Harriet and the Flying Teachers'' (1988) #''The Christmas Pudding Joke Book'' (1989) #''You and your Child in Hospital'' (1989) #''Catchpole, King of the Castle'' (1989) #''The Good Egg Yolk Book'' (1990) #''Surprise, surprise, Queen Loonia!'' (1992) #''Huff, Puff and Ruffly'' (1992) #''The King's Sock'' (1993) #''The Emerald Conspiracy'' (1993) #''Thingumybob'' (1993) #''The Invaders'' (1993) #''Harry's Treasure Hunt'' (1995) #''Follow the Kite'' (1997) #''Lots to Do'' (1997) #''Out to Work'' (1997) #''Going Places'' (1997) #''Nature is Busy'' (1997) #'' Little Toot'' (1999 classic abridged edition) #''Sir Ben and the Robbers'' (1999) #''Sir Ben and the Monster'' (1999) #''Sir Ben and the Dragon'' (1999) #''Dogs' Night'' (2000; illustrated with Allan Curless) #''

'' (2009) #''Winnie-the-Pooh and the Royal Birthday'' (2016) #'' The Best Bear in All the World'' (2016) #'' Winnie-the-Pooh Meets the Queen'' (2016) #''Once There Was a Bear: Tales of Before It All Began'' (2021)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Mark Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art People educated at Christ's Hospital English illustrators English children's writers Living people 1957 births