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Product Description
Product Description
About the Author
Raymond Briggs is one of the foremost creators of illustrated books for adults and children, including the unforgettable The Snowman and Father Christmas.
THE BASICS
THE BOOKSRaymond Briggs' parents have proved an important source of inspiration to the author/artist. His father was a milkman; his mother a former lady's maid. Raymond's unique characterisation of Father Christmas is based on his father - "Father Christmas and the milkman both have wretched jobs: working in the cold, wet and dark." His parents also influenced the character of Jim and Hilda, the victims of nuclear fall-out, in When The Wind Blows.
Raymond left school aged 15 to study painting at Wimbledon School of Art. After completing a typography course at the Central School of Art, and two years of National Service, Raymond went on to the Slade School to study painting. His first work was in advertising, but before long he was winning acclaim as a children's book illustrator as well as teaching illustration at Brighton College of Art.
Raymond was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1966 for his fourth picture book, The Mother Goose Treasury, and again in 1973 for Father Christmas. Published in 1978, The Snowman is perhaps Raymond's best-loved creation. He says that the book was partly inspired by its predecessor, Fungus The Bogeyman - "For two years I worked on Fungus, buried amongst muck, slime and words, so... I wanted to do something which was clean, pleasant, fresh and wordless and quick."Born: Wimbledon Park, January 18th 1934*Jobs: Artist, WriterLives: SussexFirst Book for Children: The Strange House, 1961*Raymond shares his birthday with A A Milne and Arthur Ransome
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book will change you,
By A Customer
This review is from: When the Wind Blows (Mass Market Paperback)
I too was a teenager when I first read this book. It was back in the 80's and we were all paranoid about the bomb. Jim and Hilda are so like my grandparents, it added to the difficulty of reading this book.Brigg's illustrations are so factual that you believe you are there. The minute details, like in Father Christmas and The Snowman, remind you that this is little old England. The book oozes with bulldog spirit and optimism as much as ignorance and soul destroying pessimism. The graphic effects are amazing. Normallity is interrupted by dramatic views of the machinery of war. Jim remembers the blitz almost with fondness, and reflects on the fickleness of war, "of course then the Ruskies were on our side". The final pages, Jims attempt at the Lords Prayer, I can't read anymore. I am normally too tearful and so sickened. I am very glad to see it back in print, a couple of years ago I had Amazon hunt down a 2nd hand copy, even at collectors price this haunting beautiful fable was well worth it. Alex
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A moving tale,
By
This review is from: When the Wind Blows (Mass Market Paperback)
This graphical novel is set in England during the Regan-Thatcher years of the early eighties. It covers the final days of Jim and Hilda Bloggs as they are caught up in a global nuclear war.In Britain at this time there was much public concern over the increased tension between NATO and the Warsaw pact nations and the deployment of short range nuclear weapons by both blocs raised these tensions. In this atmosphere, the British government published a set of leaflets setting out what precautions could be taken by the public to reduce the effects of a nuclear strike. In this book, we see an ordinary English couple attempt to follow the guidance in the leaflets and we follow their fate after a war. Alone, confused and dying from radiation sickness, they cling to their hopes that, by "doing the right thing" they will be OK and the authorities will come and take care of them. The author introduces just enough levity to give Jim and Hilda humanity and to make their tale bearable. While Jim and Hilda may not be the smartest folk around, they are the thoroughly decent folks that you would always be happy to have neighbours and that fact brings the horror of the story home. Although the threats that inspired this book have receded, it still carries a message that is important and deeply moving.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beautifully told story about the horrors of Nuclear war,
By awalsh@ask.co.uk (London, England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: When the Wind Blows (Mass Market Paperback)
This book both and scared and fascinated me in equal measure upon reading it as a child. I remember feeling at that age (about thirteen) that I had truly discovered the power of storytelling. Set in an England ravaged by Nuclear war, When the Wind Blows is told through the innocence of an elderly man and his wife, who don't really understand the impact of what is happening. This makes the message all the more brutal and frightening, a real warning against the finality of such a war. A bit strong for children, but essential reading all the same.
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