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The Young Ardizzone An Autobiographical Fragment
There can be few author-illustrators whose books are remembered – and still read – with such affection as those of Edward Ardizzone. And affection is the keynote of this charming memoir, which brings alive in words and pictures the comfortable Edwardian world in which Ardizzone grew up.The author of the ever-popular Little Tim and Lucy books (and illustrator of many more) begins his story in 1905, when he was 5 and his mother brought him and his two sisters home to England from Haiphong, where his father was a telegraph engineer. Having settled them in the remote Suffolk village of East Bergholt she returned to the Far East for three years, leaving them in the care of their maternal grandmother, a much-loved but slightly alarming figure whose sudden and inexplicable outbursts of temper could turn her face almost literally black with rage.Thereafter, like many colonial children, the young Ardizzones led a somewhat peripatetic existence, but they grew up with a full complement of cheerful young bachelor uncles, great-aunts and eccentric family friends – all beautifully and poignantly captured in Ardizzone’s deceptively simple prose and delicately humorous drawings.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
About the author
Edward Ardizzone
197 books37 followersEdward Jeffrey Irving Ardizzone, CBE, RA was an English artist, writer and illustrator, chiefly of children's books.
For Tim All Alone (Oxford, 1956), which he wrote and illustrated, Ardizzone won the inaugural Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject.
For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005) it was named one of the top ten winning works, selected by a panel to compose the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite.
For Tim All Alone (Oxford, 1956), which he wrote and illustrated, Ardizzone won the inaugural Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject.
For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005) it was named one of the top ten winning works, selected by a panel to compose the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 24, 2018
3.5 stars. Memoirs of the author accompanied by many illustrations also by the author. The illustrations are wonderful and there are some interesting memories from Ardizzone's life but I felt I didn't get to know his personality well and parts seemed glossed over. Parts that were probably painful seemed shrugged off, although nothing unusual for the era, absent parents, ridiculously strict Grandmother and regular canings from prefects and other figures of private school power.
August 17, 2024
This was thoroughly charming and the illustrations complement the storytelling perfectly. I will definitely be re-reading this in the future whenever I want a memoir that combines candor with humor, charm with the pangs of growing up, and gives a perfect window of English life from 1900 into the 20s for a young boy growing into manhood and too young for the trenches. I’m having such a great time reading Slightly Foxed’s wonderfully curated memoirs. This one joins Period Piece by Gwen Raverat, Drawn from Memory and Drawn from Life by E.H. Shepard, and various works by Adrian Bell as a favorite.
November 17, 2013
It seemed almost too perfect - the childhood memories of a beloved illustrator and author of books mostly for children, packed full of pictures.
I aspired to a Slightly Foxed edition, but settled for an older copy from my library's central stock.
... but when he was five his mother brought young Edward home to England, to live with his grandmother. His father remained at a distance, influencing events without ever being part of them, but it didn't seem to cast a shadow over an idyllic childhood. It was lovely to read simple accounts of family life, visits to the country, and boyish high jinks.
Boarding school was a less happy experience, because, though there were some wonderful memories of rags and adventure, there were darker memories of bullying and of not quite finding the right niche.
School stories and holiday stories balanced each other beautifully, and they were followed by stories of military recruitment - unsuccessful - then work as a clerk - deadly dull - until realisation dawned that art could be a career.
It was the right niche, and I wold have loved to know a little more, but it was there that the story ended.
The pictures in words were lovely, and the sketches, so distinctively Ardizzone echoed them beautifully. But there were only hints of emotions, because this is a book of memories as pictures. And, as that, it works beautifully.
But this isn't a book to explain, it's a book to love for what it is.
And so here are some of those words and pictures,
"There was something splendid and noble about riding in the wagonette. It was so high that we could look over the hedges to the fields beyond; we felt like lords of the countryside surveying our domain. As we rode we sucked, in rather unlordly fashion, enormous bull's eyes, called humbugs and were all very jolly. In fact we must have been a jolly sight. The girls were dressed in cotton frocks and sunbonnets, the boys in sailor suits and big straw hats, while the ladies wore the big hats and high-necked blouses of the period."
"In the afternoons my mother would lie with her feet up on the drawing room sofa and read to us. Her favourite reading was from Dickens and his work was a favourite of our to listen to. I think my mother must have judiciously cut out large chunks from the text to speed the action. Certainly we were never bored by these readings, quite the reverse. We adored them and adored most of all the sentimental bits. I doubt of any of us, my mother included, were quite dry-eyed at the death of little Paul Dombey."
"In the passenger seat was a stout lady, well veiled against the dust, and beside her a very large Pekinese. Now the lady was a certain Mrs Chapman who at the time reigned supreme as the Mayor of Worthing. In the speed and wit of her repartee she was a match even for my grandmother. At her home she kept many big Pekinese like the one she had brought with her. It is rumoured that once she hunted the Pekes in a pack, as if they were beagle. I would not have put it past her."
"I tried hard to do the right thing but failed. This unhappy situation drove me to take refuge in painting and drawing, a hobby already, but even more so now. I lost myself in hours of doodling, making up odd monsters, caricaturing boys and masters and inventing strange landscapes. During free time in fine weather I would be out and about attempting to draw the local landscape, in particular its trees. I was, of course, an active member of the art class run by Miss Annie Hazeldene. And, looking back, I realise I owe much to her."
I aspired to a Slightly Foxed edition, but settled for an older copy from my library's central stock.
"I was born, the eldest of five children, on 16th October 1900 in the town of Haiphong in the province of Tonkin..."
... but when he was five his mother brought young Edward home to England, to live with his grandmother. His father remained at a distance, influencing events without ever being part of them, but it didn't seem to cast a shadow over an idyllic childhood. It was lovely to read simple accounts of family life, visits to the country, and boyish high jinks.
Boarding school was a less happy experience, because, though there were some wonderful memories of rags and adventure, there were darker memories of bullying and of not quite finding the right niche.
School stories and holiday stories balanced each other beautifully, and they were followed by stories of military recruitment - unsuccessful - then work as a clerk - deadly dull - until realisation dawned that art could be a career.
It was the right niche, and I wold have loved to know a little more, but it was there that the story ended.
The pictures in words were lovely, and the sketches, so distinctively Ardizzone echoed them beautifully. But there were only hints of emotions, because this is a book of memories as pictures. And, as that, it works beautifully.
But this isn't a book to explain, it's a book to love for what it is.
And so here are some of those words and pictures,
"There was something splendid and noble about riding in the wagonette. It was so high that we could look over the hedges to the fields beyond; we felt like lords of the countryside surveying our domain. As we rode we sucked, in rather unlordly fashion, enormous bull's eyes, called humbugs and were all very jolly. In fact we must have been a jolly sight. The girls were dressed in cotton frocks and sunbonnets, the boys in sailor suits and big straw hats, while the ladies wore the big hats and high-necked blouses of the period."
"In the afternoons my mother would lie with her feet up on the drawing room sofa and read to us. Her favourite reading was from Dickens and his work was a favourite of our to listen to. I think my mother must have judiciously cut out large chunks from the text to speed the action. Certainly we were never bored by these readings, quite the reverse. We adored them and adored most of all the sentimental bits. I doubt of any of us, my mother included, were quite dry-eyed at the death of little Paul Dombey."
"In the passenger seat was a stout lady, well veiled against the dust, and beside her a very large Pekinese. Now the lady was a certain Mrs Chapman who at the time reigned supreme as the Mayor of Worthing. In the speed and wit of her repartee she was a match even for my grandmother. At her home she kept many big Pekinese like the one she had brought with her. It is rumoured that once she hunted the Pekes in a pack, as if they were beagle. I would not have put it past her."
"I tried hard to do the right thing but failed. This unhappy situation drove me to take refuge in painting and drawing, a hobby already, but even more so now. I lost myself in hours of doodling, making up odd monsters, caricaturing boys and masters and inventing strange landscapes. During free time in fine weather I would be out and about attempting to draw the local landscape, in particular its trees. I was, of course, an active member of the art class run by Miss Annie Hazeldene. And, looking back, I realise I owe much to her."
January 13, 2015
Again, my favorite genre = an artist's childhood memoir with illustrations by the same. This one sits up there with Gwen Raverat's "Period Piece", E.H. Shepard's "Drawn From Memory" & "Drawn From Life", Helen Bradley's "Miss Carter" books, Clare Leighton's books - long may the list continue!
It doesn't hurt that Ardizonne is an old favorite - he's illustrated so many wonderful books aside from his own (love the "Little Tim" books). "Uncle Silas" by H.E. Bates was love at first sight for me. I have looked for books illustrated by him ever since. Which goes to show how much an author can owe to a good illustrator. I read many books for their cover, and many books otherwise not memorable have been etched in my brain because of the illustrator's vision.
The remarkable thing about this memoir for me was discovering that although art was part of E.A.'s life from early on, it was more a coping mechanism than something he took seriously, and it took quite some time for him to realize his own potential. Astonishing, really! But I find such warmth and appeal in his work it seems impossible to me that he could have ever thought of anything else.
Anyway, lovely book. The illustrations are fantastic, obviously, and his life story is interesting as well. I recommend!
May 13, 2024
4.25*
Edward Ardizzone born in October 1900, is a well known book illustrator and author of the Little Tim books. His father worked abroad and his mother was also often absent for years at a time to be with her husband, and so Edward and his sister Betty were brought up by his maternal grandmother, who lived in East Bergholt and then Ipswich, Suffolk for the majority of his childhood, before sending him to boarding school in Dorset. There are many wonderful memories in the book, or as Edward prefers to think of them “pictures”, including a visit to Harrods to choose his first book and travelling in a horse-drawn wagonette to the scene of an idyllic riverside picnic. Edward describes himself as unpopular - never a very happy or successful schoolboy - and there are also many tales of fights, bullying and accidents from which he would take refuge in painting and drawing, spending hours doodling and making up caricatures of the boys and teachers out of favour with him. The book is of course wonderfully illustrated throughout and is an immersive and visual insight into the life of an Edwardian schoolboy.
Edward Ardizzone born in October 1900, is a well known book illustrator and author of the Little Tim books. His father worked abroad and his mother was also often absent for years at a time to be with her husband, and so Edward and his sister Betty were brought up by his maternal grandmother, who lived in East Bergholt and then Ipswich, Suffolk for the majority of his childhood, before sending him to boarding school in Dorset. There are many wonderful memories in the book, or as Edward prefers to think of them “pictures”, including a visit to Harrods to choose his first book and travelling in a horse-drawn wagonette to the scene of an idyllic riverside picnic. Edward describes himself as unpopular - never a very happy or successful schoolboy - and there are also many tales of fights, bullying and accidents from which he would take refuge in painting and drawing, spending hours doodling and making up caricatures of the boys and teachers out of favour with him. The book is of course wonderfully illustrated throughout and is an immersive and visual insight into the life of an Edwardian schoolboy.
June 25, 2021
Edward Ardizzone is certainly my favorite illustrator, and perhaps even my favorite artist. His pen and ink drawings are incredible; they appear simplistic but are quite complicated. I knew next to nothing about his life though, and this autobiography, illustrated by himself of course, as a real treat. He had an Edwardian English childhood, perhaps not typical, but fascinating - and quite different from both my own American 1970s childhood and the way children are brought up today. Although this is about a child, it's told from an adult point of view, and is not (necessarily) a children's book: he is quite frank about his life, warts and all. The illustrations are, as usual, amazing and I wanted to dive into each one and live there.
February 21, 2022
Being just 144 pages long and illustrated copiously by the author this is a fairly quick read even for this reviewer!
It charts the early years of Edward Ardizzone, the illustrator and artist, who was for a number of generations the go to artist for such work. Like many I came across his work when reading Stig of the Dump where he gave my imagination a clue about what a chalk pit might look like as well as Stig himself.
The book starts chronologically but does divert into themes for some chapters. It is a largely a joyful recalling of an Edwardian childhood and that transition into manhood. I too was bullied at school so felt for his struggles to deal with that.
In the end a series of chance encounters, an exhibition of paintings and the publication of 'Little Tim and the brave Sea Captain' turned a desk clerk into one of the finest book illustrators of the twentieth century.
He would go on to be a war artist in WWII and illustrate copious books.
This introduction to his extraordinary life is well worth a read.
It charts the early years of Edward Ardizzone, the illustrator and artist, who was for a number of generations the go to artist for such work. Like many I came across his work when reading Stig of the Dump where he gave my imagination a clue about what a chalk pit might look like as well as Stig himself.
The book starts chronologically but does divert into themes for some chapters. It is a largely a joyful recalling of an Edwardian childhood and that transition into manhood. I too was bullied at school so felt for his struggles to deal with that.
In the end a series of chance encounters, an exhibition of paintings and the publication of 'Little Tim and the brave Sea Captain' turned a desk clerk into one of the finest book illustrators of the twentieth century.
He would go on to be a war artist in WWII and illustrate copious books.
This introduction to his extraordinary life is well worth a read.
August 31, 2022
A 1970 evocation of an awkward Edwardian childhood & adolescence from one of the most celebrated illustrators of children's literature. (published by Slightly Foxed Paperbacks in 2,000 copies!)
Obviously, not all the sketches & drawings are masterpieces but they add a certain nostalgic view of a world of ferocious & eccentric men & women who clearly thought that children should 'be seen and not heard'!
'Ted's' semi-estranged parents left him & his sisters to the care of a martinet of a granmama while they helped run an outpost of a flourishing empire. His selective reminiscences are touching, full of innocence & naievety...only slowly dissolved as the Great War lurches into that 'golden age' of boys in sailor-suits & girls in petticoats & an excess of millinery!
Delightful! ( & 33p. [3 books for a £] from a charity shop!).
Obviously, not all the sketches & drawings are masterpieces but they add a certain nostalgic view of a world of ferocious & eccentric men & women who clearly thought that children should 'be seen and not heard'!
'Ted's' semi-estranged parents left him & his sisters to the care of a martinet of a granmama while they helped run an outpost of a flourishing empire. His selective reminiscences are touching, full of innocence & naievety...only slowly dissolved as the Great War lurches into that 'golden age' of boys in sailor-suits & girls in petticoats & an excess of millinery!
Delightful! ( & 33p. [3 books for a £] from a charity shop!).
November 30, 2025
This is an auto biography of the artist and illustrator Edward Ardizzone [1900-1979]. He describes his life growing up in 1900 East Anglia living with his grandmother whilst his parents lived abroad..It was at boarding school that he found his love for art and which subsequently became his career.
He is now long forgotten although some of his illustrations are held in the Imperial War museum and the Tate respectivelty. This auto biography also contains copies of some of his illustrations.
Overall the book highlights the simple life he had growing up in the countryside which unfortunately no longer exists today.
He is now long forgotten although some of his illustrations are held in the Imperial War museum and the Tate respectivelty. This auto biography also contains copies of some of his illustrations.
Overall the book highlights the simple life he had growing up in the countryside which unfortunately no longer exists today.
September 4, 2020
A lovely and gentle walk down memory lane with Mr Ardizzone. Great drawings and some very funny stories.
May 6, 2023
I couldn’t finish this - I expected to be charmed but found it mainly dull and occasionally rather repellent I’m afraid.
July 30, 2023
A book with pictures for adults! What more could one want? Edward Ardizzone’s upbringing sounds harsh by today’s standards but he seems to bear no resentment. The drawings are an absolute delight.
November 19, 2024
The illustrations make it marvellous! Sweet recollections of an utterly lost time.
August 18, 2025
An entertaining memoir about the early days of this amazing illustrator. Lavishly illustrated by Ardizzone, which would make this worth a look if nothing else!
June 5, 2013
I read the Slightly Foxed edition of this autobiographical work, an beautiful re-edition of an old book reproduced in a classic binding of old, beautiful paper stock and type and reproductions of Edward Ardizzone's illustrations. This was my main reason for purchasing this edition as I have in my collection at home a first edition of "The Little Girl and the Tiny Doll" and I am very fond of his stories and rendering style. His writing style is very in keeping with the times in which he grew up, old-fahioned today but reminded me greatly of my Grandmother's way of speaking and telling stories. Loved this but it may only be for a certain audience.
April 12, 2024
I was charmed by this brilliant illustrator's recounting of his early, formative years, his moving from house to house, misery in school, loving and unusual family, boating, parties, pranks, fishing, the many houses he lived in, and his grandmother's intermittent fury. Yes, this is fragmented and the sketches are sometimes loose but it was all a joy to me.
October 15, 2014
A lovely Slightly Foxed edition I received as a gift! A real little pleasure.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews