Axel Scheffler is a book illustrator

Illustrator

An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

 best known for his cartoon

Cartoon

A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...

-like pictures for children's books, particularly The Gruffalo

The Gruffalo

The Gruffalo is a children's book by writer and playwright Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, that tells the story of a mouse's walk in the woods...

and The Gruffalo's Child

The Gruffalo's Child

The Gruffalo's Child by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler is the bestselling sequel to The Gruffalo.The story is about the Gruffalo's daughter who, despite her father's stories, sets off into the woods to discover the 'big bad mouse', which is the only thing her father is afraid of.Throughout her...

written by Julia Donaldson

Julia Donaldson

Julia Catherine Donaldson MBE is an English writer and playwright, best known as author of The Gruffalo and other children's books, many illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Of her 157 published works, 56 are widely available in bookshops...

.

Life and career

Originally from Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, he came to England in 1982. He studied at the Bath Academy of Art and worked in advertising and publishing after graduating in 1985. He has drawn his distinctive illustrations for authors of children's books from Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Germany and the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, including, in addition to Julia Donaldson

Julia Donaldson

Julia Catherine Donaldson MBE is an English writer and playwright, best known as author of The Gruffalo and other children's books, many illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Of her 157 published works, 56 are widely available in bookshops...

, Jon Blake, Paul Shipton

Paul Shipton

Paul Shipton is an award-winning children's author.He was born in Manchester and attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge and Manchester University. After completing two Masters' degrees , he taught English in Istanbul for a year...

, David Henry Wilson

David Henry Wilson

David Henry Wilson is an English writer. As an author he is best known for his children's stories such as the Jeremy James series. Wilson has also had a number of plays produced in the United Kingdom, both for children and adults....

, Uwe Timm

Uwe Timm

-Life and work:Uwe Timm was the youngest son in his family. His brother, 16 years his senior, was a soldier in the Waffen SS and died in Ukraine in 1943...

, Paul van Loon and Toon Tellegen

Toon Tellegen

Antonius Otto Hermannus Tellegen is a Dutch writer, poet, and physician, known for his children's works, especially those involving anthropomorphised ants and squirrels...

. He lives in Blackheath, London

Blackheath, London

Blackheath is a district of South London, England. It is named from the large open public grassland which separates it from Greenwich to the north and Lewisham to the west...

.

Scheffler was commissioned by Faber and Faber

Faber and Faber

Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...

 to provide new illustrations for a new edition of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a collection of whimsical poems by T. S. Eliot about feline psychology and sociology, published by Faber and Faber. It is the basis for the record-setting musical Cats....

 that commemorated the 70th anniversary of the book and the 80th anniversary of Faber and Faber. This new edition was published in October 2009.

He designed Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

's 2006 Christmas card

Christmas card

A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to the Christmas and holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during the weeks preceding Christmas Day by many people in Western...

s.