Quentin Blake is a cartoonist, caricaturist, and children’s book author who has illustrated over 300 books. His art has appeared in books written by the likes of Roald Dahl, Dr. Seuss, Sylvia Plath, Elizabeth Bowen, and William Steig, and he has written 35 books himself.

Blake, who is celebrating his 90th birthday, was born on December 16, 1932, in Sidcup, Kent, England. He was encouraged by painter and cartoonist Alfred Jackson to submit his art to humor magazine, Punch, and Blake’s art was published when he was just 16 years old.

He studied English literature at Downing College, Cambridge and earned a postgraduate teaching diploma at the University of London Institute of Education. In the 1960s, he taught English in France, then spent 20 years teaching at the Royal College of Art, where he was also head of the illustration department in the late ‘70s to mid-‘80s.

In 1961, Blake illustrated his first book, The Wonderful Button by Evan Hunter. This began a career of creating art for titles like Matilda, The Twits, The Enormous Crocodile, the Agaton Sax series, and in ’74, he illustrated the first Dr. Seuss book not drawn by Seuss himself.

He was a presenter for BBC’s children’s program, Jackanory in the ‘70s and designed five British Christmas stamps based on A Christmas Carol in the early ‘90s. In his later career, Blake’s art has appeared in theater foyers, galleries, and museums. Blake worked with hospitals, designing murals and working with other artists to get their work featured in hospitals.

Blake was a founding trustee for the House of Illustration, a center in London for art exhibitions, educational events, and other art-related activities. He was the first British Children’s Laureate and won the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2002.