more photos (2)

Raymond Briggs’s Followers (241)

Raymond Briggs

Born

in Wimbledon, Surrey, England, The United Kingdom

January 18, 1934

Died

August 09, 2022

Genre

Children's Books, Comics & Graphic Novels

edit data

Raymond Redvers Briggs was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist, and author who had achieved critical and popular success among adults and children. He was best known for his story "The Snowman", which is shown every Christmas on British television in cartoon form and on the stage as a musical.

His first three major works, Father Christmas, Father Christmas Goes on Holiday (both featuring a curmudgeonly Father Christmas who complains incessantly about the "blooming snow"), and Fungus the Bogeyman, were in the form of comics rather than the typical children's-book format of separate text and illustrations. The Snowman (1978) was entirely wordless, and illustrated with only pencil crayons. The Snowman became Briggs' best-known Raymond Redvers Briggs was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist, and author who had achieved critical and popular success among adults and children. He was best known for his story "The Snowman", which is shown every Christmas on British television in cartoon form and on the stage as a musical.

His first three major works, Father Christmas, Father Christmas Goes on Holiday (both featuring a curmudgeonly Father Christmas who complains incessantly about the "blooming snow"), and Fungus the Bogeyman, were in the form of comics rather than the typical children's-book format of separate text and illustrations. The Snowman (1978) was entirely wordless, and illustrated with only pencil crayons. The Snowman became Briggs' best-known work when in 1982 it was made into an Oscar nominated animated cartoon, that has been shown every year since on British television.

Briggs continued to work in a similar format, but with more adult content, in Gentleman Jim (1980), a sombre look at the working class trials of Jim and Hilda Bloggs, closely based on his parents. When the Wind Blows (1982) confronted the trusting, optimistic Bloggs couple with the horror of nuclear war, and was praised in the British House of Commons for its timeliness and originality. The topic was inspired after Briggs watched a Panorama documentary on nuclear contingency planning, and the dense format of the page was inspired by a Swiss publisher's miniature version of Father Christmas. This book was turned into a two-handed radio play with Peter Sallis in the male lead role, and subsequently an animated film, featuring John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft. The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman (1984) was a scathing denunciation of the Falklands War. However, Briggs continued to produce humour for children, in works such as the Unlucky Wally series and The Bear.

He was recognized as The Children's Author of the Year in 1993 by the British Book Awards. His graphic novel Ethel and Ernest, which portrayed his parents' 41-year marriage, won Best Illustrated Book in the 1999 British Book Awards. ...more

Combine Editions
Raymond Briggs’s books

Average rating: 4.21 · 42,036 ratings · 2,995 reviews · 164 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Snowman 4.26 avg rating — 19,298 ratings — published 1978	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Father Christmas 4.30 avg rating — 4,206 ratings — published 1973 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	When the Wind Blows 4.29 avg rating — 4,049 ratings — published 1982 — 37 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ethel and Ernest 4.20 avg rating — 3,881 ratings — published 1998 — 25 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fungus the Bogeyman 4.12 avg rating — 2,178 ratings — published 1977 — 25 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Father Christmas Goes on Holiday 4.25 avg rating — 631 ratings — published 1975 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Jim and the Beanstalk 3.81 avg rating — 497 ratings — published 1970 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gentleman Jim 3.68 avg rating — 512 ratings — published 1981 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ug: Boy Genius of the Stone Age 3.68 avg rating — 448 ratings — published 2001 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bear 4.05 avg rating — 324 ratings — published 1994 — 31 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Raymond Briggs…

Series by Raymond Briggs

Father Christmas (6 books)
by

Raymond Briggs

4.29 avg rating — 4,896 ratings

Unlucky Wally (2 books)
by

Raymond Briggs

3.37 avg rating — 35 ratings

Quotes by Raymond Briggs (?)

“Dear sir, Mr. B.J. Thing... er... we the people of Britain are fed up with being bombed. We had enough of it last time with old Hitler so will you just leave us in peace, you live your life and we'll live ours, hope you are well... please don't drop any bombs.
Yours sincerely, Mr. and Mrs. J. Bloggs”
― Raymond Briggs, When the Wind Blows

9 likes

“Books are not missiles, you don’t aim them at anybody”
― Raymond Briggs

5 likes

“I must break out...
...start a new life...
been here for years...
might be getting into a rut...
something a bit more exciting...
more adventurous...
something with more of a challenge...
There's not much opportunity for self-advancement in toilets...”
― Raymond Briggs, Gentleman Jim

tags: dreams, self-advancement

2 likes

See all Raymond Briggs's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Next Best Boo...: What Does Your Bookshelf Say About You?	166	1083	Nov 11, 2010 10:37AM
The Seasonal Read...: Fall Challenge 2011 Completed Tasks - DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC!	2251	791	Nov 30, 2011 09:05PM
UEL PGCE group 20...: P8 on programme reviews	379	94	Jun 24, 2012 02:43AM
Challenge: 50 Books: Amanda's 50+ for 2012	34	75	Jan 09, 2013 05:24AM
Books on the Nigh...: Food for thought: not having a TBR list	16	123	Dec 16, 2014 06:23AM
The Reading For P...: Jean's Book Nook 2014	69	53	Dec 31, 2014 11:33AM
The Reading For P...: Christmas/Winter book Recommendations	24	38	Jan 10, 2015 04:47PM
1001 Children's B...: March 2015: The Elephant and the Bad Baby	2	13	Mar 12, 2015 06:03PM

More…

Raymond Briggs’s Followers (241)

Raymond Briggs

Combine EditionsRaymond Briggs’s books

Series by Raymond Briggs

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Raymond Briggs’s books