Anthony Browne hopes to continue giving pleasure to children with his picture books

Anthony Browne poses for a photo at the exhibition site of “Anthony Browne's Happy Theatre,” currently taking place at Hangaram Design Museum, Seoul Arts Center. The exhibition will run through Sept. 8.

By Anna J. Park

• Published Jul 26, 2019 6:58 PM KST
• Updated Jul 26, 2019 8:01 PM KST

By Anna J. Park

Anthony Browne, one of the world's most loved and celebrated children's book authors and illustrators, visited Korea earlier this week to attend an ongoing large-scale exhibition on his work in southern Seoul. Seoul Arts Center's Hangaram Design Museum has been hosting the exhibition, “Anthony Browne's Happy Theatre,” displaying some 200 original drawings by Browne, and other media art pieces inspired by his work.

With Browne's popularity among children and their parents in Korea, this exhibition is the sixth of its kind here since the first in 2009. The previous exhibition, “Anthony Browne's Happy Museum,” garnered some 200,000 visitors and more than 40,000 people have already visited this year's event, opened early June.

For more than 40 years, the 72-year-old British author's books have earned immense support and love of children from all over the world. He was the first British author to win the international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2000, which is considered the highest recognition to creators of children's book; he was the U.K.'s sixth Children's Laureate from 2009 to 2011.

Browne's titles have been widely read among children in Korea, as well. What is noticeable is many of his picture books have gorilla protagonists, such as “My Dad,” 'Willy and Hugh,” and “Little Beauty.”

During a press conference in Seoul earlier this week, Browne said the idea of using gorillas as a main protagonist came in the early 1980s, as he was thinking about his own father's strong yet warm character.

“When I created the book Gorilla in 1983, my wife and I were expecting a child. So I was wondering what it would be like to be a father, wondering what kind of father I want to be, and what kind of father I don't want to be,” Browne told reporters.

“My own father was a warm, loving, affectionate father. He was a big man, much bigger than me or my brother. He was very physical man, he played a boxer; he fought in the war. He taught my brother and I to play physical games like football and rugby. And yet, also, he'd sit with us, and he liked poems and stories. So it was a real contrast; he looked very fierce, strong and powerful but he was actually very gentle, sensitive and warm,” he continued, adding that he realized a gorilla is a lot like this.

Gorillas are powerful, strong and sometimes quite violent, yet they're known to be sensitive, subtle, and very protective of their own family he said.

“And they are so much like us. If you look to a gorilla's eyes at the zoo, it's so much like looking to a human being's eyes. Sometimes it feels as though it's a human being inside that gorilla looking back at me. It's a reminder that we are primates ourselves, we forget that sometimes. But I think we shouldn't forget that.”

Since then, “Willy,” one of the most popular characters of his books, was brought into the world. The gorilla-protagonist has earned the love and empathy from children readers from around the globe, with the series books, including “Willy the Wimp,” “Willy the Dreamer,” and “Willy the Champ.” Children can easily find see themselves in the struggles of Willy to be good at sports as his friends or his brothers, or his adventures with imagination.

“I think Willy represents in some ways the universal child. I think it's one of the reasons why I'm possibly more popular than some other British illustrators, because my characters are not specifically British,” Browne said, adding Willy's concerns and struggles reflected his own childhood memories.

“In every country I've been to, I realized, although each individual child is different, in a way, we are all the same. I don't see a difference between me and you or French people, or African people; we are all humans, we all are primates.”

The famed British author and illustrator said he doesn't necessarily try to make his books with social messages or values, but said he hopes the value of “empathy” ― the ability to imagine how it would feel to be in a different situation or in someone else's shoes ― is something he'd like to stress.

His books are also known for their creative and imaginative drawings, with the influences from surrealism. The author said he still vividly remembers having read surreal stories like “Hansel and Gretel” as a kid, adding surrealist painters like Rene Magritte also influenced him. If anyone carefully observes his paintings, many of his illustrations include surreal elements every corner of each page, which can stimulate children's imaginations. Browne said he always likes “open-ending” for children's further imaginations and own thinking.

“Not my books are all happy, or full of happiness. It's almost opposite. Children love to be engaged with a little bit of darkness, a little bit of fear, and a little bit of anxiety, because that's what life is about. But I make sure the ending of my books ― it's not necessarily the happy ending ― but I hope my ending to be hopeful, and the sort of ending that allows us to think about what's going to happen next,” Browne said.

The prolific author beloved regardless of ages, ethnicities or nationalities, said his inspiration comes from everything of his life, yet mostly from his regular routines. He tries to stick to his nine-to-six schedules, and he 'waits' for the inspiration to visit him.

“I get inspiration from everywhere; a lot of my stories come from my own childhood, I often don't realize that until afterwards. It also comes from my own children's experiences many years ago, and people tell me about their own children, what happened to them. All writers also borrow from other books, other films, paintings, dreams, or news, absolutely anything to find inspiration,” Browne said.

“But I actually work as much as possible normal office hours. That's where a lot of inspiration just visit, just doing your work at my office. … For me it is very important to have this routine, where strange things could happen. Strange ideas can come,” he added.

The author in his early 70s said, after the many successful decades of creation, he now feels it takes longer and longer to think of the next book, and the process of creating a book never gets easy. He still goes through difficult steps and procedures for a new book. The expectation from the world on his works also burdens him. Browne said the secret to continue his creative works is “persevering,” going to work every morning.

All in all, he regards himself “lucky” for being able to do what he loves for a living. To arrive where he is now, he went through a stage of life where he had to earn make a living as a medical illustrator for years. He also designed greetings card before he published his first book in 1976. For those who'd like to be an author or illustrator, he advised them to have faith in them and to trust your instinct and trust yourself.

Browne said his dream for now is to do what he does now for the rest of his life.

“I'd like to carry on making children's picture books. And I'd like to get pleasure from them, and I'd like to give as much pleasure to children,” he said, smiling.