Cover illustration for Granpa

John Burningham has been one of the world’s most renowned picture book artists since winning the Kate Greenaway Medal for his debut picture book Borka. His picture books present many of the various experiences he encountered working overseas in his youth after rejecting military service, such as working on a farm, in the woods, and in a hospital, as well as helping to clean up a slum district. The picture book Granpa is a matter-of-fact story about aging and death focusing on the relationship between a grandfather and his granddaughter. In Burningham’s works readers can sense a strong undercurrent of humanism along with his inexhaustible interest in human beings and society.