Elmer author David McKee: 'I've never been a prize winner'

The creator of the patchwork elephant and Mr Benn has won the BookTrust lifetime achievement award. He reflects on his career and explains why his best ideas come to him in the bath

David McKee, the author and illustrator who celebrates difference in his stories of the beloved patchwork elephant Elmer, has been named the 2020 recipient of children’s book charity BookTrust’s lifetime achievement award.

McKee, 85, joins a starry roster of former winners of the prize for outstanding contribution to children’s literature, from Shirley Hughes and Judith Kerr to Raymond Briggs, Helen Oxenbury and John Burningham.

I like to work for the adult that the child will be, and for the child that the adult still is

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