Who is he?

I was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1957 and spent my childhood there. From an early age I enjoyed drawing and when I finished school I knew I wanted to do something to do with art.

I applied to an Art School to become a teacher, but was rejected so then I started to study History of Art at the university in Hamburg, but I soon found out that I'm not an academic, and gave up without graduating.

I spent a year doing alternative National Service. This was not in the army, but working with mentally ill people in their homes. During the holidays I went to see a friend who was at an Art School in England - that gave me the idea to live abroad and apply to study there.

I moved to the UK to study Visual Communications at Bath Academy of Art in Corsham, Wiltshire out in the English countryside surrounded by sheep and peacocks. The course also included an exchange to Cooper Union in New York. It was during these years (1982-1984) that I decided to become an illustrator.

Here are some of my sketches from that time:

I moved to Streatham Hill in London.

I started work as a freelance illustrator. I showed my portfolio of work to various companies in England and Germany, and I soon got work in editorial and advertising illustration and children's books.

The first book I illustrated was The Piemakers by Helen Cresswell.

The first book published in Germany was a story by Edward Lear.

My first picture book was published: You’re a Hero Daley B by Jon Blake.

My first book with Julia Donaldson was A Squash and a Squeeze. It was the publisher who brought us together, and started our partnership.

The Gruffalo was born! It won the Smarties Prize in the same year. Since then Julia and I have made lots of books together, but The Gruffalo has been our most popular book so far.

I was asked to design the official Christmas card sent out by Gordon Brown’s Treasury.

The Gruffalo film was released on Christmas Day and watched by 9.8 million people. Films of The Gruffalo’s Child, Room on the Broom, Stick Man, The Highway Rat, Zog, The Snail and the Whale, Zog and the Flying Doctors, Superworm and The Smeds and The Smoos have also been made since then. The films have become a highly anticipated part of the Christmas Day TV schedule in the UK.

The Royal Mail asked me to design the Christmas stamps.

I painted a book bench for the National Literacy Trust.

On 23rd June, Britain voted to leave the European Union. A very sad day for me.

Discover Story Centre in Stratford, East London ran a wonderful immersive 'mini-world' exhibition for children celebrating some of the books that Julia Donaldson and I have made together.

The Gruffalo has been adapted for many settings - theatre, film, theme parks - but never before has it been an opera... until now. The Gruffalo Opera for children was first performed in Berlin in January to great acclaim!

To celebrate 20 years of The Gruffalo, the Royal Mail commissioned special edition Gruffalo stamps. The German Post also did the same!

I wanted to do something to help children understand what's happening with the coronavirus crisis. Julia Donaldson wrote some rhyming couplets and I used our existing book characters to make a set of illustrations which were published in The Guardian newspaper. You can see more here.

In 2022 I was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, or Bundesverdienstkreuz by the German government. I was invited to the Germany Embassy in London and given this very special accolade.

To celebrate publication of Jonty Gentoo: The Adventures of a Penguin written by Julia Donaldson, Axel went to Edinburgh zoo and met their gentoo penguins! He got to feed the little huddle, meet the real Jonty, read them a story and he even drew a picture for them.

These days most of my time is spent illustrating children's books, doing events and taking part in festivals.