Allan Ahlberg Views
Janet and Allan Ahlberg are the creators of many popular children's books, which regularly appear at the top of the 'most popular' lists for public libraries.[1] Husband and wife, they worked together for 20 years until Janet died of cancer on 13 November 1994, aged 50.[2] Allan wrote the books, and Janet illustrated them.[2]
Allan Ahlberg was born as an illegitimate child in Croydon, in 1938. He was adopted and brought up in Oldbury in the Black Country.[2][3] He is a supporter of West Bromwich Albion F.C. Janet (née Hall) was born in 1944 and brought up in Leicester.[3] They met whilst enrolled in a teacher training course at Sunderland Technical College and married in 1969.[3]
Allan Ahlberg was a teacher for ten years before he wrote his first book, The Brick Street Boys. For that, and many subsequent prize-winning picture books such as The Baby's Catalogue, Peepo! and The Jolly Postman, Allan wrote the stories which his wife, Janet, illustrated. They worked closely together in a process Allan described once as getting an idea and batting it around, like table tennis . This perfect collaboration sadly came to an end when Janet died in 1994, but Allan has continued to write collections and picture books as well as novels and poetry, most of which is inspired by his years as a teacher. Allan supports West Bromwich Albion football club.
'I like the word flabbergasted, I like the name Horace and I seem to write quite a lot about sausages. Allan Ahlberg smiles, with a warmth to match the sun-drenched limestone of his Georgian house in Bath. Well, what would you expect from the author of Each Peach Pear Plum, Peepo! and The Jolly Postman. He has written 140 children's books so far, and they all share his gentle, slightly off-the-wall humour - a sense of fun that makes them wonderful to read out loud. I can still recite the whole of Each Peach Pear Plum and my youngest is now 12. Books are the Ahlberg family business.
Allan Ahlberg Images
