Chris Riddell is a prolific writer and illustrator whose work is known for his distinctive line drawings with their clever caricature, fascinating detail and often enchanting fantasy elements.
Chris began illustrating from a young age and greatly admired the work of John Tenniel, the first illustrator of Alice in Wonderland, and E. H. Shepard, the illustrator of The Wind in the Willows and Winnie the Pooh. He studied illustration at Brighton University where one of his teachers was author-illustrator, and BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Raymond Briggs, best known for The Snowman.
As an illustrator he has collaborated with numerous authors and reimagined many classic stories with his drawings including Peter Pan, Treasure Island, The Little Prince and countless more, and has won the Kate Greenaway Medal (now Carnegie Medal for Illustration) several times. His solo work includes the Goth Girl series, which won the Costa Children’s Book Award in 2013, the Ottoline series and The Cloud Horse Chronicles series.
In addition to his books, Chris is a renowned political cartoonist whose work appears in The Observer, The Literary Review and The New Statesman. He lives in Brighton with his family.
Goals as Waterstones Children’s Laureate
When Chris became the Children’s Laureate he revealed his Five Point Plan, “The Laureate Manifesto”:
Chris Riddell’s 5‑point plan for his laureateship
‘My five point plan’
The Laureate Log: daily drawings posted online charting the progress of the laureateship.
Words Need Pictures: the creation of visual resources for schools, libraries and classrooms everywhere
The Joy of Sketchbooks: promoting daily doodling in beautiful notebooks
Stay Calm and Keep Reading: celebration of school libraries and reading for pleasure
The Doodler: mysterious masked man drawing on walls and conducting live drawing events at various locations, find him everywhere and anywhere in the next two years
His plan put encouraging creativity at the forefront of his term and he recorded his daily movements as the Laureate through his ‘Laureate Log’ blog, a visual diary to inspire all to become creative. From this, he created the Doodle-A-Day book to give children a dedicated space to draw every day.
Also during his time as the Children’s Laureate, Chris advocated for school libraries to be supported, creating resources to decorate their spaces and in 2016 he published an open letter to the UK Government to call for funding from the education budget.
I am humbled to take on this role after the giants that have come before me. I want to put the joy of creativity, of drawing every day, of having a go and being surprised at what one can achieve with just a pencil and an idea at the heart of my term as Laureate. I want to make sure people have fun whilst addressing fundamental issues I care about passionately.
Chris Riddell’s Doodle-A-Day features 366 illustration prompts, tips and artwork from award-winning illustrator Riddell, which will have you doodling every day for a year.
When Mr Munroe starts wearing the Bog Goggles he is led on an unexpected journey. On her quest to find her friend, Ottoline meets a host of different people and creatures, goes deep sea diving, and even flies in a plane.
Former Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell has a sketchbook full of illustrations, all in search of a story. Can you create a story to give to these drawings?
To celebrate 20 years of the Waterstones Children’s Laureates in 2019, we asked Chris Riddell to tell us about his memories of holding the post in 2015–17
