Beloved children’s author Allan Ahlberg dies at 87
By Jill Lawless, Associated Press
London (AP) – The British writer Allan Ahlberg, author of more than 150 pounds for children, including classics like “each fishing feather” and “The Jolly Postman”, died, said his publisher on Friday. He was 87 years old.
Penguin Random House said Halberg died on Tuesday. He did not give a cause of death.
Ahlberg’s books have introduced generations of young children when reading simple rhymes, clear observation and sweet humor. Many were co-created with his illustrator married Janet Ahlberg, who died in 1994.
“Peepo!” (1981) gave a vision of the world of baby and were interactive in a deliciously analog way, with bite holes in the pages to spy on the following scenes.
“The Jolly Postman” (1986) was even more inventive, incorporating postcards and letters into envelopes so that the children could get involved while they were following a leatch holder delivering mail to fairy tale characters. Penguin Random House said he “pushed the limits of what possible for a book.”
Ahlberg has also written joke books, including “The Ha Ha Bonk Book” and poetry for primary children, including “please Mme Butler” and “heard it in the playground”.
Born in 1938 and raised by adoptive parents in a house in the working class in Oidbury, in the center of England, Ahlberg worked as “Postman, Fumber’s Mate and Grave Digger”, according to his publisher, before becoming a teacher. He met Janet at the Teacher Training College and the couple’s first book, “Here are the Brick Street Boys”, was published in 1975.
Then came “” Bill burglar “in 1977, on a burglar who steals a baby, and” each fishing plum “in 1978, with his pages of characteristics of a complex nursery. He won Janet the Kate Greenaway medal for illustration, one of the most prestigious prizes for children’s publishing. “The Jolly Christmas Postman” won the same prize in 1991.
“It is not because a book is tiny and its readers do not mean that it cannot be perfect,” Ahlberg told Guardian in 2006. “On his own scale, he can be as good as Tolstoy or Jane Austen.”
The couple’s work brought a huge commercial success. “The Jolly Postman” sold more than 6 million copies. The “Funnybone” series on a fun skeleton house has been adapted to television.
After the death of Janet of cancer at only 50 years old, Ahlberg worked with illustrators including Raymond Briggs and his daughter, Jessica Ahlberg.
For adults, he wrote a tribute to his wife, the “Janet’s latest book” and autobiographical volumes “The Boyhood of Burglar Bill” and “The Bucket”.
In 2014, he rejected a life production price of the Booktrust charitable organization because he was sponsored by Amazon, who was faced with his tax arrangements.
Francesca Dow, chief of children’s literature at Penguin Random House, said that Ahlberg’s books have been described as “mini-chefs”.
“He knew that making it perfect for children counts, and especially that the best stories for children last forever,” said Dow. “The Allan are among the best – the real classics, which will be loved by children and families for the years to come.”
Ahlberg is survived by his second wife, Vanessa Clarke, her daughter and two daughters-in-law.
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