Allan Ahlberg 1938-2025

Image Source: The Daily Telegraph 6th Sept 2013

This morning I read the sad news that we had lost one of our most amazing and talented literary giants of the children's book world - Allan Ahlberg. I have read and loved so many of his books and I had heaps of them in all of my former school libraries. He wrote over 150 books and they cover such a range from books to gift a new baby, books for todders, books for children learning to read, picture books for all ages, poetry, fiction books and adult titles too. Do you remember his joke book - The Ha Ha Bonk Book?  I can only give you a tiny glimpse here into his enormous contribution to the field of children's literature and also to the joy and great delight his books give to children. 

I think I can say many other children's book authors and illustrators have 'stood on the shoulders' of Allan and his late wife Janet - think of books like Peepo and The Jolly Postman. 

Quote from Allan Ahlberg Daily Telegraph 2013: Peepo! Peepo! was set in wartime, which made the publisher very nervous. She worried that little children wouldn’t make sense of things such as barrage balloons that were in the illustrations but not in the story. But I think it’s a mistake to think that a book for little children has to be like a glass of water so that every single element in it is accessible and clear and understood by a three-year-old. If they don’t understand something, they will ask.

Shirley Hughes (speaking to Puffin Books) said this about Allan Ahlberg: Allan and Janet Ahlberg’s picture book partnership burst upon the children’s book world like an exhilarating, life-enhancing breath of fresh air. Allan’s writing style is a combination of fine, highly skilled wordplay and a relaxed, brilliantly accessible storyline, full of his unique sense of humour. He and Janet played off one another with an unforgettable interplay of talent, essentially English yet worldwide in its appeal. It was a duo that, one can only say, was made in heaven.

Illustration from Each Peach Pear Plum

A few personal memories:

In the early 1980s Allan Ahlberg visited Australia! Are you amazed? My memories of this are only tiny fragments - I remember the location was an old library building possibly in North Sydney. The audience was quite small, and I remember he had dark hair. I am wondering if his publisher (possibly Walker Books) bought him to Australia - OH those were the days when international authors and illustrators of children's books came here.

Do you know the books The Vanishment of Thomas Tull and Jeremiah in the Dark woods - this might be because I read them to you - I read both of these books to hundreds of children in four different school libraries. I can still recite parts of both of them by heart.

I used to collect children's games that linked with books. One card game I had was based on Cops and Robbers. You can read more about this book here. 

Sophie Henn said: Cops and Robbers was one of my absolute favourites when I was little and I am delighted to say I still love it now. I think it ignited my love of both crime dramas and cross-section illustrations! As this hilarious caper joyously bounces along, the Robbers are threatening Christmas, which is about as bad as it gets for a four-year-old, and Ahlberg doesn’t shy away from their obvious love of villainy! I think we tend to stay away from the darker side of life with picture books these days, but as Roald Dahl said, your villains can do the most awful things as long as there is justice in the end. And our Robbers certainly get their comeuppance, thanks to heroic PC Pugh, of the Coppers, who puts everything right in time for Christmas and without coming across as pious or goody-goody. Genius! Janet Ahlberg’s detailed cross-sections and images packed with visual gags build on the exhilarating pace and rhythm of the story. And I DO love a tale with an open ending. What happened to Grandma Swagg? We may never know… Ho! Ho!

In my former library I had a set of fifteen copies of The Jolly Postman - inevitably they would be returned with all the letters jumbled and so my library monitors would have a 'fun' task of sorting all the letters back into their little envelopes so each book was once again complete.

I had a teacher in my previous school who always loved (and used) the poem Scissors (read here by Allan Ahlberg) from the book Please Mrs Butler. And yes this teacher was very, very pedantic about the scissors in his classroom along with pencils, clipboards, rulers, and so many more things. It was the perfect poem. You can hear Allan reading more poems here. Other poetry books by Allan Ahlberg are Everybody Was a Baby Once: and Other Poems; Collected Poems illustrated by Charlotte Voake; and Heard It in the Playground. I always wanted to see a copy of Mrs. Butler Songbook.

I often quote lines in my mind from Each Peach Pear Plum - it is a rhyme that has just stuck in my brain. "Each peach pear plum I spy Tom Thumb ... Cinderella on the stairs I spy the three bears." And I have gifted this book and Peepo to nearly every new baby born into the families of my friends. I even have a couple of copies in my present book stash ready for the next new arrival. 

One of my all-time favourite read aloud books is Jeremiah in the Dark woods because you just have to read it with voices. I especially enjoy 'performing' the voice of the crocodile. I have put a link to my two blog posts about this book below. AND I used to read this and then give each of the children a small jam tart to eat - I guess you couldn't do that now.

Every Kindergarten child in my school library listened to (and joined in) with the book Bye Bye Baby - a sad story with a happy ending. 

Among the most treasured books in my school libraries were the tiny Red Nose Readers books - funny, terrific illustrations and just perfect for little children learning to read. These were real books not readers!

Andre Amstutz illustrated the Happy Families books and also the series Fast Fox, Slow Dog - Chicken Chips and Peas; Slow Dog Falling; and The Hen House. These were also perfect for very young children just learning to read. He also illustrated The Funny Bones books:

Here is a comment from Facebook: Thank you, Mr Ahlberg for all the magic, all the story dreaming. 

In 1975, the Ahlbergs published their first book together, Here are the Brick Street Boys. That was swiftly followed by The Old Joke Book, Burglar Bill and Each Peach Pear Plum, for which Janet was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal for illustrators in 1978. The Jolly Postman, which was published in 1991, won the Kurt Maschler Award. The second in the series, The Jolly Christmas Postman (1991), won a second Kate Greenaway Medal. Janet Ahlberg died in 1994. I found a video of Allan Ahlberg talking about his book The Goldilock which are variations on the story illustrated with his daughter Jessica. Working with his daughter he also wrote The Boy, the Wolf, the Sheep and the Lettuce and Half a Pig. 

Here is the Kirkus Star review

Quote from the 2013 Daily Telegraph by Allan Ahlberg: I have a small talent and I get paid an arm and a leg for it. More than half of the books that I have written are out of print or barely earned their advance – some of the ones I really liked – and a few of them have stayed in print for 30 or 40 years and have paid for everything. It’s all luck, really. If I had stayed in my little terraced house in Leicestershire, I could have lived off Each Peach Pear Plum for the rest of my life.

Here are my blog posts which explore books by Allan Ahlberg:

• Jeremiah in the Dark Woods by Allan Ahlberg illustrated by Janet Ahlberg (post 2023)
• Jeremiah in the dark woods by Janet and Allan Ahlberg (original post)
• The vanishment of Thomas Tull by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
• Bye Bye Baby by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
• The Improbable Cat by Allan Ahlberg illustrated by Peter Bailey
• The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
• The Clothes Horse and other Stories by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
• The man who wore all his clothes by Alan Ahlberg illustrated by Katharine McEwen
• Baby on Board by Allan Ahlberg illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark

Source of book lists Fantastic Fiction:

Novels

•    Woof! (1974)
•    The Vanishment of Thomas Tull (1977)
•    Son of a Gun (1979) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    The Ha Ha Bonk Book (1982)
•    Fast Frog and Friends (1984)
•    The Giant Baby (1994)
•    The Night Train (1996)
•    My Brother's Ghost (2000)
•    The Improbable Cat (2002)
•    The Cat Who Got Carried Away (2003)
•    The Boy, the Wolf, the Sheep and the Lettuce (2004)
•    The Boyhood of Burglar Bill (2007)

Collections

•    Please Mrs. Butler (poems) (1983)
•    The Clothes Horse (1987) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    The Mighty Slide (poems) (1988)
•    Ten in a Bed (1989)
•    Heard It in the Playground (poems) (1989)
•    The Better Brown Stories (1995)
•    The Mysteries of Zigomar (poems) (1997)
•    The Puffin Book of Five-minute Stories (1998) (with others)
•    Friendly Matches (poems) (2001)
•    Collected Poems (poems) (2008)
•    Funnybones (2010)
•    Everybody Was a Baby Once (poems) (2010)

Picture Books 

•    The Pet Shop (1969)
•    Here Are the Brick Street Boys (1975)
•    A Place to Play (1975)
•    Sam the Referee (1975)
•    Make a Face (1976)
•    Fred's Dream (1976) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Big Bad Pig (1976)
•    Burglar Bill (1977) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Jeremiah in the Dark Woods (1977) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Cops and Robbers (1978) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    The Little Worm Book (1979) I mention this book here.
•    The One and Only Two Heads (1979)
•    Two Wheels Two Heads (1979)
•    Treasure Hunt (1980)
•    A Pair Of Sinners (1980)
•    Dinosaur Dreams (1980)
•    The Great Marathon Football Match (1981)
•    123 First Counting Book (1981)
•    Peepo! (1981) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    The Baby's Catalogue (1982)
•    King Kangaroo (1983)
•    Mr. Wolf (1983)
•    Tell-Tale Tiger (1983)
•    Each Peach Pear Plum (1984) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Yum Yum (1984)
•    Happy Worm (1985)
•    Help! (1985)
•    The Cinderella Show (1986) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Push the Dog (1986)
•    Shirley's Shops (1986)
•    Blow Me Down! (1986)
•    One, Two, Flea! (1986)
•    Tell Us a Story (1986)
•    Jolly Postman (1986)
•    Bear's Birthday (1987)
•    Jumping (1987)
•    The Old Joke Book (1987)
•    The Shopping Expedition (1987)
•    So Can I (1987)
•    Starting School (1988) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    The Worm Book (1989) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Bye Bye Baby (1989) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Fee Fi Fo Fum (1990)
•    The Black Cat (1990)
•    Mystery Tour (1990)
•    The Jolly Christmas Postman (1991) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Skeleton Crew (1992)
•    The Bear Nobody Wanted (1992) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Bumps in the Night (1993)
•    Give the Dog a Bone (1993)
•    It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (1993) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Who Stole the Pie? (1995)
•    The Jolly Pocket Postman (1995) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Peek-a-boo (1997) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Baby Sleeps (1998) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Doll and Teddy (1998) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    See the Rabbit (1998) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Monkey Do! (1998)
•    Mockingbird (1998)
•    Shine a Light (1998) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Blue Buggy (1999) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Chicken, Chips and Peas (1999)
•    The Hen House (1999)
•    Slow Dog Falling (1999)
•    Fast Fox Goes Crazy (1999)
•    The Bravest Ever Bear (1999)
•    Storytime Giants (2000)
•    The Snail House (2000)
•    Grandma Fox (2000)
•    The Mother Hen Mysteries (2001)
•    The Man Who Wore All His Clothes (2001)
•    The Adventures of Bert (2001) (with Raymond Briggs)
•    Chickens in the Snow (2001)
•    The Woman Who Won Things (2002)
•    Miaow! (2002)
•    A Bit More Bert (2002) (with Raymond Briggs)
•    The Little Cat Baby (2003)
•    Half a Pig (2004)
•    The Children Who Smelled a Rat (2005)
•    The Runaway Dinner (2006)
•    Previously (2007)
•    The Pencil (2008)
•    The Baby in the Hat (2008)
•    Baby Sleeps Buggy Book (2010) 
•    Goldilocks (2012)
•    Hooray for Bread! (2013)
•    Kicking a Ball (2014)
•    Alison Hubble (2016)
•    The Ghost Train (2017)
•    My Worst Book Ever (2018)
•    Baby on Board (2018)
•    Under the Table (2023)

His first book for adults was The Bucket, about his childhood in a Black Country town in the 1940s. A few years ago my friend showed me her precious copy of Janet's Last Book [9780140268720] written as a tribute to his wife. 

In 2024 his latest book Under the Table was published.

Bookseller blurb: What do you do when you're having an ordinary day, only to discover there's a big gray elephant (named Nathaniel) under the table? Why, you get him to help you wash the car And the kangaroo (named Abigail) that appears under that same table can help bring in groceries. But when there are penguins in the fridge, the forks and knives are running around, and the salt and ketchup are acting up, there is only one thing to do: pack everyone in the camper and go on vacation With a wink and a nod, Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman reunite for another wry, comical, zany adventure starring the family introduced in The Runaway Dinner and The Pencil.

There were other people aside from Janet, who illustrated books by Allan Ahlberg. Bruce Ingram did these books above and he talks about another book they did together called My Worst Book ever. You can see inside this book here. 

Colin McNaughton wrote on Facebook: My old friend Allan Ahlberg died yesterday. ... My inspiration. I served my apprenticeship under him. ('Red Nose Readers' - 24 books.) He taught me how to write children's picture books. He showed me the subtleties of the craft/art of talking to children. We made 30 odd picture books together. I knew him when he was with the beautiful Janet who died so tragically in her 50's. A brilliant illustrator. A mark-maker without peer. They were a team. A partnership - a phenomenon in the world of children's books. They created 'classics' time and time again. Then Janet died. Time passed and happily he met Vanessa! A beautiful and lovely human being. They became a great team. He continued to write weird and wonderful stories and the dreaded Parkinson's didn't stop him. He kept creating magic until the end. RIP mon ami.