David McKee nominated for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award

 

Over the next few weeks I plan to highlight various authors and illustrators from around the world who have been nominated by various IBBY sections as contenders for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award. Sixty-two candidates from 33 countries have been nominated for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award. Our Australian nominees are Margaret Wild and Tohby Riddle.

David McKee has been nominated by IBBY UK. Their previous nominations for the illustration award include Helen Oxenbury, Jay Ray, Chris Riddell, and John Burningham.

David McKee was born in Devon and studied at Plymouth Art College. In the early part of his career, McKee regularly drew and sold humorous drawings to magazines and newspapers such as The Times Educational Supplement, Punch and the Reader’s Digest. David McKee has written and illustrated over 50 picture books for Andersen Press and has penned a number of children’s classics including King Rollo, Mr Benn, Not Now Bernard and Elmer the Patchwork Elephant. David loves to paint and now lives in the South of France but regularly visits the UK.  David McKee is one of the best known illustrators of picture books, having created acknowledged modern classics such as Not Now, Bernard, Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, and Mr Benn, Gladiator. His books are published in many languages throughout the world, and many of them have been adapted for television. He was born in Devon and now divides his time between the South of France and London. Love Reading 4Kids

David McKee is especially famous for his Elmer books (there are 39 titles) which are for younger children but they often also contain some deeper wisdom. I am a huge fan of Elmer but I also love to read other books by David McKee to our senior primary classes such as these:

There is one book I read EVERY year in my school library to Grade One and Grade Two - Sorry Miss Folio by Jo Furtado. In this story the little boy borrows a book from the public library and then he keeps it for the whole year making up the most wonderful tall tales to explain why he is not able to return the book when he visits the library each month. Over the year we watch the librarian, Miss Folio, becoming more and more exasperated. You have probably guessed that the book the boy borrows is one by David McKee. It is a book about King Rollo.

Things I learned from Elmer:

Elmer

It's okay to be different - let's celebrate - we live in a wonderful community and 

everyone should show kindness towards one another

Problem solving and team work save the day and everyone can enjoy the river and a good splash. I

t's so important to realise other people may see the world in a different way.

Jokes are fun but it is important to be able to laugh at yourself.

Elmer on Stilts

Team work and problem solving save the day again and even though 

we don't need stilts anymore everyone can use them for fun. Laughter brings us together.

Elmer shows his friends that cold is all relative. His wisdom gives his friends a quiet lesson which helps to stop their grumbling. His friends discover snow is fun!