Quentin Blake

Sir Quentin Blake
Quentin Blake in the 1990s
Born	Quentin Saxby Blake (1932-12-16) 16 December 1932 (age 84) Sidcup, Kent, England
Nationality	British
Education	Downing College, Cambridge Chelsea School of Art
Known for	Illustration
Awards	Kate Greenaway Medal 1980 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration 2002

Sir Quentin Saxby Blake, CBE, FCSD, FRSL, RDI (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, illustrator and children's writer. He may be known best for illustrating books written by Roald Dahl. For his lasting contribution as a children's illustrator he won the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2002, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books. From 1999 to 2001 he was the inaugural British Children's Laureate. He is a patron of the Association of Illustrators.

Blake was born in 1932 in Sidcup, Kent, and was evacuated to the West Country during World War II. He attended Holy Trinity Lamorbey Church of England Primary School and Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School, where his English teacher, J. H. Walsh, influenced his ambition to become involved in literature. His first published drawing was for the satirical magazine Punch, at the age of 16. He read English Literature at Downing College, Cambridge, from 1953 to 1956, received his postgraduate teaching diploma from the University of London, and later studied part-time at the Chelsea School of Art and later Camberwell College of Art. He has since denied that studying at the University of Cambridge contributed to his artistic or creative talent. He gained a teaching diploma at the Institute of Education.