Peter Utton — British illustrator and author of children’s books.
He discovered his love of drawing early: as a child, he would constantly ask his mother what to draw next — birds of paradise, jam pies, cowboys, and more cowboys. At fifteen, he began attending classes at the Southend School of Art. According to one of his favorite stories, he wasn’t even officially enrolled at first — he simply started showing up until the dean, impressed by his sketches, told him he could stay.
After graduating, Utton worked as a graphic designer in several London advertising agencies and studios. In his mid-twenties, he retrained as a teacher and spent around seven years working with children with multiple learning disabilities.
He went on to write and illustrate seven books of his own and to illustrate more than forty by other authors. His first picture book, The Witch’s Hand, was shortlisted for the Mother Goose Award in 1990.
Utton’s illustrations are known for their warmth, humor, and playful interaction with the reader — the same qualities that inspire his own stories.
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George notices a strange, crumpled brown thing pinned to the wall in his father’s studio. When he asks what it is, his dad warns him — it’s too scary to tell. Of course, that only makes George more curious. What follows is a story about a midnight visit from a […]
