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Korky Paul

Korky Paul

Appearing:
Stockton (20th), Gateshead CLC (21st), Gala Day

Author Website
www.korkypaul.com

Publisher
Oxford University Press

Early Years and beyond
Korky Paul was born in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1951. He studied art at the Durban School of Art in Natal, South Africa and then spent three years working for an advertising agency in Cape Town. In 1976 as Korky puts it he "fled for Europe" and got a job illustrating and designing educational books in Greece. He then spent some time working for an advertising agency in London and Los Angeles and then studied film animation at Cal Arts in California.
Korky Paul is married with two children. He works in Oxford but spends the summer living it up in Greece.

First drawing attempts
On his first day at work, the young art graduate Korky was called the new "drawer". On reflection, it is a fair description of what he did then and what he does now-draw picture books. He likes the word, preferring it to artist or even illustrator.
Korky's first children's book was published in the USA in 1980. It was a pop-up book called The Crocodile and Dumper Truck. During the 1980's Korky illustrated a number of children's books and in 1986 he illustrated his first book for Oxford University Press, Winnie the Witch, which won the Children's Book Award in 1987.

Korky - the drawer
Since then, Korky has illustrated many more successful children's books for Oxford University Press. He has continued with his adventures of Winnie the Witch and her loveable cat Wilbur, as well as illustrating many children's poetry books in collaboration with John Foster. He has become a hugely popular figure in the children's book world and he is especially popular with the young children who read his books and are carried away into a fantasy world by the illustrations.

Recommended Reads

teachum.jpg Captain Teachum's Buried Treasure
OUP
978-0192727107
Captain Teachum has a reputation as a wicked and terrible pirate. He has, so his readers are told, led a life of crime: capturing ships, making his enemies walk the plank, and burying stolen treasure all over the world. But then we discover some unexpected secrets about Captain Teachum's home life: he is more than a little hen-pecked, he has twenty five children, and his memory is rather unreliable ...Hardly surprising, then, that Captain Teachum has not been able to find his buried treasure. So, by the time Captain Teachum's story is finished and we see his mischievous grin as he lies in his hammock, we're left wondering how much of his boastful bluster about past dastardly deeds is true and how much of it is wishful thinking!
winnie Winnie The Witch
OUP
978-0192726438
Winnie, the Witch lives in a black house. She has black chairs and black stairs, black floors and black doors. The trouble is that Winnie's cat, Wilbur, is also black. After sitting on him and tripping over him, Winnie decides to turn Wilbur into a green cat. But then, he goes out into the long grass! Winnie is going to need a little magic to make sure she can always see Wilbur...This is a beautifully-crafted story with a colourful final twist.
sea Winnie at the Seaside
OUP
978-0192727251
Winnie decides she needs a seaside break, so she and Wilbur zoom off to the coast. Winnie makes a beeline for the sea to cool down. Wilbur makes a beeline for anywhere other than the sea - he hates water, and can't bear getting wet. Winnie is having so much fun in the water that she doesn't notice her broomstick being washed out to sea. She waves her magic wand in an attempt to get the broomstick back but it doesn't really go according to plan. The mix of magic and mayhem that follows involves a surfer and a whale and, predictably, it's poor Wilbur who gets the worst of things...In this paperback with audio CD edition, children can listen to the story with accompanying music and sound effects that really transport listeners to the seaside!

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