Ward, Nick 1955–

Personal

Born 1955, in England; married. Education: B.A. (with honors).

Addresses

Office—Oxfordshire, England.

Career

Illustrator and author.

Awards, Honors

Young Book Trust Picture Book of the Year designation, 1994, for Shadowland; Stockport Schools Book Award, 2002, for A Wolf at the Door!; World Book Day Recommended title, 2005, for Who's Been Eating MY Porridge?; Red House Award shortlist, 2008, for The Perfumed Pirates of Perfidy..

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

Toby, Kestrel (London, England), 1979.

Giant, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1982.

The Surprise Present, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1984.

A Bag of Tricks, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1984.

Junk, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1984.

Ride the Black Horse, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1986.

Mr. Bunion, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1987.

Little Lord Wantitall, Blackie (London, England), 1991.

You Little Monster!, Blackie (London, England), 1992.

Gran in Space, Blackie (London, England), 1992.

Shadowland, Hutchinson (London, England), 1993.

Don't Worry, Grandpa, Hutchinson (London, England), 1994, Barron's Educational Series (Hauppauge, NY), 1995.

Don't Eat the Teacher!, Scholastic (London, England), 1998, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2002.

A Word in a Pig's Ear; or, How to Be a Practically Perfect Pig, Scholastic (London, England), 1999.

Farmer George and the Lost Chick, Pavilion (London, England), 1999.

Farmer George and the Field Mice, Pavilion (London, England), 1999.

Into the Woods, Red Fox (London, England), 2000.

You Can't Beat a Cheetah,, Scholastic UK (London, England), 2000.

Farmer George and the Hungry Guests, Pavilion (London, England), 2000.

Farmer George and the Hedgehogs, Pavilion (London, England), 2000.

A Wolf at the Door!, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

Farmer George and the New Piglet!, Pavilion (London, England), 2001.

Farmer George and the Snowstorm, Pavilion (London, England), 2001.

Who's Been Eating MY Porridge?, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2003.

Squash the Spider!, David Fickling Books (London, England), 2003, David Fickling Books (New York, NY), 2004.

The Tadpole Prince, Pavilion (London, England), 2003.

Come on, Baby Duck!, Good Books (Intercourse, PA), 2004.

The Ice Child, Pavilion (London, England), 2004.

Don't Eat the Babysitter!, David Fickling Books (New York, NY), 2004.

The Naughtiest Ever Fairy, Meadowside (London, England), 2004.

The Biggest, Baddest Wolf!, Little Tiger Press (London, England), 2005.

I Wish …, Chrysalis Children's Books (London, England), 2005.

The Naughtiest Ever Fairy's Naughty New Friend, Meadowside (London, England), 2005.

The Terrible Troublesome Troll, Scholastic (London, England), 2005.

Tiny-rannosaurus!, Meadowside (London, England), 2005.

The Nicest, Naughtiest Fairy, Meadowside (London, England), 2006.

Astro Gran, Meadowside (London, England), 2006.

Tiny-rannosaurus and the Never-saurus, Meadowside (London, England), 2006.

The Naughtiest Fairy's Naughty Surprise, Meadowside (London, England), 2006.

Tinyrannosaurus and the Bigfootosaurus, Meadowside (London, England), 2007.

A Rumpus in the Night, Meadowside (London, England), 2007.

Gorilla City: The First Amazing, Astonishing, Incredible, and True Adventures of Me!, Charlie Small, David Fickling Books (Oxford, England), 2007.

The Perfumed Pirates of Perfidy: The Amazing Adventures of Charlie Small, David Fickling Books (Oxford, England), 2007.

The Puppet Master: The Amazing Adventures of Charlie Small, David Fickling Books (Oxford, England), 2007.

The Daredevil Desperados of Destiny: The Amazing Adventures of Charlie Small, David Fickling Books (Oxford, England), 2008.

Charlie in the Underworld: The Amazing Adventures of Charlie Small, David Fickling Books (Oxford, England), 2008.

ILLUSTRATOR

John Rowe Townsend, Clever Dick: The Diary of a Dreadful Child, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1982.

Michael Bond, Paddington Breaks the Peace, Young Lions (London, England), 1992.

Michael Bond, Paddington Does the Decorating, Young Lions (London, England), 1993.

Stella Paskins, reteller, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Picture Lions (London, England), 1994.

Alexander McCall Smith, The Banana Machine, Blackie's (London, England), 1994.

Alison Leonard, The Lamplighter, Ginn (Aylesbury, England), 1995.

Michael Bond, Something Nasty in the Kitchen, Harper-Collins (London, England), 1995.

Michael Bond, A Spot of Decorating, HarperCollins (London, England), 1995.

Michael Bond, A Bear in Hot Water, HarperCollins (London, England), 1995.

Michael Bond, A Picnic on the River, HarperCollins (London, England), 1995.

Michael Coleman, The Magic Sponge, Macdonald Young (Hove, England), 1996.

Bernard Ashley, Justin and the Demon Drop-Kick, Viking (London, England), 1997.

Anne Fine, Scaredy Cat, Egmont (London, England), 1998.

Karen Wallace, Marie Curie, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1998.

Leon Rosselson, Carla's Magic Dancing Boots, Macdonald Young (Hove, England), 1998.

Harriet Castor, Hellen Keller, Franklin Watts (London, England), 1998.

Emma Fischel, Saint Francis, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1999.

Emma Fischel, Hans Christian Andersen, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1999.

Bernard Ashley, Justin and the Big Fight, Puffin (London, England), 1999.

Bernard Ashley, Justin Strikes Again, Puffin (London, England), 2001.

Wendy Cooling, editor, The Puffin Book of Christmas Stories, Puffin (London, England), 2001.

Rachel Anderson, Joe's Story, Barrington Stoke (Edinburgh, Scotland), 2001.

Paul Stewart, Sausage, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 2002.

Paul Stewart, Hot Dog and the Talent Competition, Picture Window Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2007.

Tom Macrae, Baby Pie, Anderson (London, England), 2009.

Contributor of illustrations to other books, including Wushu!: The Chinese Way to Family Health and Fitness, Mitchell Beazley (London, England), 1981.

Author's work has been translated into other languages, including Danish, German, Greek, French, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Welsh, and Swedish.

Sidelights

Nick Ward is a prolific British artist who has combined a successful career as a children's book illustrator with a talent for creating original self-illustrated stories. Seeing his first picture book, 1979's Toby, published while he was still in college, Ward has continued to focus on creating art for books, while also working on greeting cards and commercial illustration and design. Among his best-known work are his picture books Shadowland, A Wolf at the Door, Don't Eat the Teacher, Don't Eat the Babysitter, and his series of fiction books featuring CHarlie Small.

Ward reveals his sensitivity to the feelings of young readers in books such as Come on, Baby Duck!, which focuses on a young duckling who is taking his first swim on a local pond. Depicting the duck's realization that while it looks easy, swimming on the water takes work to learn, the author/illustrator "understands how little steps can feel huge for a child," according to a Publishers Weekly contributor. In School Library Journal Jane Marino dubbed the book "charming," adding that Come on, Baby Duck! makes "a great choice for sharing."

Life on an English farm, with all its calm regularity, is the setting for Ward's reassuring "Farmer George" books, which introduce a character described by a Publishers Weekly contributor as "portly, genial," and "slightly befuddled." In Farmer George and the Hungry Guests the tweed-clad farmer worries when his breakfast fixings can't be found, while Clarrie the hen's missing offspring is the focus of Farmer George and the Lost Chick Farmer George and the Field Mice finds a rodent family threatened by George's wheat-whacking combine, while in Farmer George and the New Piglet the farmer comes to the rescue of Perry the piglet, only to find that the piglet would rather sleep in the farmhouse than the barn. The farmer and his wife brave a blizzard to rescue Larry the sheep from a snowdrift in Farmer George and the Snowstorm. "Droll, full-color illustrations neatly capture the hilarity of Farmer George's predicament" in Ward's cheerful series, according to one Kirkus Reviews writer, while a colleague concluded of Farmer George and the Snowstorm that the "genial atmosphere of cooperation and rhythms of farm life" Ward creates in his series "strike elemental chords." The Britishisms in Ward's "Farmer George" stories have been noted by several reviewers, Booklist critic Amy Brandt writing that "they enhance the story's setting and do not interrupt the gentle and easy camaraderie between man and beasts."

Humor takes a starring role in Ward's Don't Eat the Teacher! and its companion volume Don't Eat the Babysitter!, as Sammy the shark attempts to control his habit of biting when he gets excited. Unfortunately, the young shark loves school, and in his excitement he eats (and spits right back out) his new friends, the storyhour book, his art project, and even his lobster teacher. Sammy's home is not much safer than his classroom, and in Don't Eat the Babysitter! the energetic shark gets his teeth into everything from a television set to the family bathtub, as a little fish named Anna attempts to keep some order until Sammy's parents return. Noting the visual jokes that salt Ward's colorful cartoon artwork, a Publishers Weekly critic concluded that "nervous first-time schoolgoers should appreciate … the … punch lines" in the book's entertaining text, and a Kirkus Reviews writer predicted that "many children will identify with Sammy's behavior when he is excited."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 2001, Amy Brandt, review of Farmer George and the Hungry Guests, p. 1567.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 2008, April Spisak, review of Gorilla City: The First Amazing, Astonishing, Incredible, and True Adventures of Me!, Charlie Small, p. 359.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2001, review of Farmer George and the Snowstorm, p. 1764; April 1, 2006, review of Don't Eat the Babysitter!, p. 359.

Publishers Weekly, December 18, 1995, review of Paddington Bear, p. 55; January 3, 2000, review of Farmer George and the Lost Chick and Farmer George andthe Field Mice, both p. 224; July 1, 2002, review of Don't Eat the Teacher!, p. 77; November 29, 2004, review of Come on, Baby Duck!, p. 39.

School Library Journal, November, 1983, Margo Showstack, review of Giant, p. 71; March, 1985, Betty Craig Campbell, review of Junk, p. 159; February, 1987, Ronald A. Van de Voorde, review of Ride the Black Horse, p. 86; February, 2000, Martha Topol, review of Farmer George and the Lost Chick, p. 105; September, 2001, Coop Renner, review of You Can't Beat a Cheetah, p. 62; November, 2002, Be Astengo, review of Don't Eat the Teacher!, p. 140; November, 2004, Jane Marino, review of Come on, Baby Duck!, p. 120; April, 2006, Linda M. Kenton, review of Don't Eat the Babysitter!, p. 120.

Times Educational Supplement, March 16, 2007, Huw Thomas, review of Gorilla City, p. 45.

ONLINE

Nick Ward Home Page,http://www.nickward-illustration.co.uk (June 6, 2008).