| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
He was born in Wimbledon, London, in the home of his parents Ethel and Ernest Briggs, a maid and a milkman. Raymond Briggs pursued cartooning from an early age and, despite his mother's attempts to discourage him from this unprofitable pursuit, he attended the Wimbledon School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art. After briefly pursuing painting, he became a professional illustrator and soon began working in children's books.
His first three major works, Father Christmas, Father Christmas Goes on Holiday, and Fungus the Bogeyman, were in the form of comics rather than the typical children's-book format of separate text and illustrations. The Snowman (1978) was almost entirely wordless, and became Briggs' best-known work when it was made into an animated cartoon that has been shown every year on British television.
Briggs continued to work in a similar format, but with more adult content, in Gentleman Jim, a somber look at the working-class trials of Jim and Hilda Bloggs, closely based on his parents. When the Wind Blows (1982) confronted the trusting, optimistic Bloggs couple with the horror of nuclear war, and was praised in the British House of CommonsThe House of Commons is a component of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also includes the Sovereign and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 659 members, who are known as "Members of Parliamen for its timeliness and originality. The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Iron Lady (1984) was a scathing denunciation of the Falklands WarThe Falklands War or the Malvinas War ( Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas , was an armed conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas between March and June 1982. Though surprised by an Argentine attac. However, Briggs continued to produce humor for children, in works such as the Unlucky Wally series and The Bear.
His graphic novelA graphic novel is a novel or novella done in the medium of comics. It is typically a long-form work rather than a short publication such as an individual comic book, analogous to a novel rather than a short story. A graphic novel need not be a complete w Ethel and Ernest , which portrayed his parents' 41-year marriage, won Best Illustrated Book in the 1998 British Book Awards .