Anthony Browne

Never forget that children are at the heart of everything we do. Respect them, listen to them, talk to them as equals, and care about them. ”

As adults, we've seen so much before that we often turn the pages of a picture book without really looking. Young children tend to look more carefully. ”

I didn't have picture books - there weren't many around when I was a child. ”

A lot of my characters are underdogs or sad or lonely, but I had a comfortable, golden sort of childhood. ”

I had just been promoted to the first rugby team. It was a perfect, wonderful coming of age. My brother was already in the team, and my father had come to watch us. We went home, and my father died in front of me. Horribly, in about half an hour. He had a heart attack. ”

One of my main decisions when accepting the job of Children's Laureate was that I must continue working on picture books. If I don't write and illustrate for some time, then I begin to question who I am. ”

I played rugby from the age of 10 until my late twenties; an unlikely player - small, quiet, long-haired and 'wiry.' ”

Many adults that I have met in my time believed that picture books are 'babyish'. I hope I have changed minds on this, as I set out to do. ”

When I talk to children, I show them a typical drawing I made when I was six and point out to them that when I was their age, I didn't draw any better than any of them. ”

Force me to choose my best book, and I always come back to 'Gorilla.' It was the first time I felt I understood what picture books could do. ”