David McKee

David McKee (Devon, England, January 2, 1935 - French noon, France, April 7, 2022) was an English writer and illustrator, known especially for being the creator of the Elmer's series, the colorful elephant inspired by the work of Paul Klee. He has also worked as an animator at the company King Rollo Films, sometimes with characters of his creation. David McKee studied at Plymouth School of Art, then moved to London where he studied at Howsen College of Art. He began drawing comic strips for newspapers and magazines even before finishing university.

Style

His style of illustration is of apparent simplicity, although in several of his works he includes references and winks to present history, as well as parallel stories that the narrative does not talk about, but that can be followed in the images. In his work we can find influences from Steinberg and André François.

Prizes

During his career, McKee has won several awards, including:

• Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (1987)
• Children’s Choice selection (1997)
• International Reading Association/Children’s Book Council (1997)(1999)
• He was nominated by the UK for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2006.

Some books translated into Spanish

• The magician who lost his magic
• Not now, Bernardo. (Not now, Fernando)
• Two monsters
• Elmer (and other titles of the series)
• The History of Tucán
• The sad story of Veronica
• The two admirals
• Black and white
• I hate my teddy bear.