Graham Oakley
...is an English children's book author and illustrator
best known for his Church Mice stories, which are treasured for their droll, understated
stories and incredibly detailed pictures (which generally put a different spin
on what the text says is going on). He's also done a cute series about the Foxbury
Force (Fox policemen), Hetty and Harriet - a poultry odyssey, a fascinating
wordless flip-the-pages book called Graham Oakley's Magical Changes
(republished as 512
in France and Canada), and illustrated lots of books for other people - including
the recent Is
Your Cat Too Fat?, a book on cat nutrition. (His cat pictures are particularly
wonderful - they have real "catty" expressions.)
This is an utterly unauthorised web site, set up to allow me to gush
alarmingly about the quality of his work, and to tell other fans what I've
been able to unearth about him and his books. (Information, books, and
cash gratefully received.) :-)
NEWS!
The online Dorset
Echo featured an article entitled "Blessed are the Squeak" on Saturday
the 13th of January 2001, interviewing Graham Oakley after the publication
of The Church Mice Take a Break about his Church Mice stories:
Despite the loyal enthusiasts for the Church Mice series,
Graham revealed the new book may well be the last in the adventures of
the rodents of Wortlethorpe. He said: "I do have a lot of affection for
the church mice - I certainly have enjoyed writing and illustrating the
books - but I think they may be coming to the end of their life now."
But that doesn't mean the books will stop coming. Graham is already
immersed in an epic new project - a version of Beauty and the Beast, complete
with ornate Pre-Raphaelite-style paintings to illustrate it.
He said: "It's not the kind of book that has an envisaged market,
but it's something I want to do. I still work long hours on my illustrations
and I like to come up with my own projects because I know I'm in control
and I don't have to think about the market audience. Instead I can focus
on what I want to create. This isn't a commercial venture - and I'm really
enjoying it."
Biography - who is this bloke? What's he been
doing?
Bibliography - chronological listings of books
he's written and/or illustrated
Find his books - what would you like Father
Christmas to bring?
(besides "a quadraphonic record player, a quartz watch, four
ounces of jelly babies, a pair of two-tone football boots, a transistor
radio, a dozen walnut whips, the Beano annual, a yo-yo, two pounds of fudge,
an electric guitar, a colour television, six boxes of cheese spread, a
cuckoo clock, a pocket calculator, and a packet of custard creams." Humphrey
in The Church Mice at Christmas)
Links:
An interview with Humphrey
and Arthur, the leaders of the church mice: Unauthorised fan work
The Vestry: a Graham
Oakley tribute page (with pictures from a couple of his books)
Sources: Contemporary
Authors New Revision Series Volume 54 pp. 324-327
Twentieth Century Children's Authors,
3rd ed., St. James Press, 1989, pp. 732-733
Smith, Deborah. Blessed are the squeak. Dorset
Echo 13 January 2001. Retrieved 4 June 2001 from http://www.thisisdorset.net/dorset/weymouth/news/WEYMOUTH_NEWS_FEATURES1.html
Email: kwatson@alianet.alia.org.au.
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