David McKee

David John McKee (born 2 January 1935) is a British writer and illustrator, chiefly of children's books and animations.

For his contribution as a children's illustrator, he was UK nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2006.

McKee was born and brought up in , South Devon, England. After attending the local grammar school he studied at Plymouth College of Art. While still at college, he started selling one-off cartoons, particularly to the national press. On leaving college he continued this to support himself while painting, drawing regularly for, among others, Punch, Reader's Digest, and The Times Educational Supplement.

The first book that he sold was of a story he had told at college, Two Can Toucan. It is about a South American bird who can carry two cans of paint on its enormous bill. This was published by Abelard-Schuman in 1964; a 1985 edition with new illustrations by McKee was re-issued in 2001 by Andersen Press.

McKee was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Plymouth University in 2011.

The BBC used some of McKee's books on television and asked about the possibility of a more extensive project. The result was the development of a series about McKee's Mr Benn character running to thirteen episodes which were regularly repeated for two decades. Five films for the Save the Children fund followed, then a series of films based on the King Rollo books, with two friends, Clive Juster and Leo Nielsen. The company King Rollo Films was started. The company maintained its success, with McKee being involved on projects usually as a writer. They have been responsible for various films including Tony Ross's Towser, Eric Hill's Spot the Dog, and Lucy Cousins's Maisy. The company plans to produce 26 animated films of Elmer.

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