Bruce Ingman
Author of The Pencil
Works by Bruce Ingman
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Ingman, Bruce
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Nottingham Trent University
The Royal College of Art - Occupations
- Art Teacher
book Illustrator
children's author - Short biography
- Bruce Ingman is a British picture-book author and illustrator. He was born in Liverpool, and studied fine art at Nottingham Trent University and illustration at the Royal College of Art, London. He has taught at a number of art colleges and has illustrated for magazines, including British Vogue and The Sunday Times. He published his first book, When Martha's Away, in 1995, and has gone on to illustrate a number of other authors' books, including multiple titles from the celebrated Allan Ahlberg. Ingman regularly gives talks and workshops in schools, theatres and at literary festivals, including Cheltenham, Edinburgh and Oxford, and he is a founding Ambassador for the House of Illustration, the world’s first dedicated home for the art of illustration.
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Liverpool, Lancashire, England, UK
- Map Location
- UK
Members
Reviews
My daughter is home from her first year of college. Time for Mama, Papa and Baby Bear to sit on the sofa for a picture book binge! (4 of 4)
I picked this up because a Goodreads reviewer said it was a superior version of the story I liked so much in Max Amato's Perfect. I'll have to disagree on that though, as this story is much too dark and disturbing. A pencil creates a dog, a cat, a boy and more and more and more. The new creations become increasingly demanding and soon turn on him. His show more solution unleashes an apocalypse the sort of which I have never seen in a children's picture book, and the resolution seems straight out of a Rick & Morty episode: twisted and sort of sexualized. Bizarre. show less
I picked this up because a Goodreads reviewer said it was a superior version of the story I liked so much in Max Amato's Perfect. I'll have to disagree on that though, as this story is much too dark and disturbing. A pencil creates a dog, a cat, a boy and more and more and more. The new creations become increasingly demanding and soon turn on him. His show more solution unleashes an apocalypse the sort of which I have never seen in a children's picture book, and the resolution seems straight out of a Rick & Morty episode: twisted and sort of sexualized. Bizarre. show less
While some may find the outrageously long sentences tedious or exhausting, we find them humorous. I credit repeated exposure to Ahlberg's excessive(?) use of interrupting conjunctive adverbs for my five-year-old's penchant for using them in his own story telling. For older readers, The Runaway Dinner offers a fine study in the appropriate use of the comma.
An anthropomorphic sausage named Melvin makes a break for his freedom in this rather surreal picture-book adventure from Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman, followed in short order by: the fork, the knife, the plate, the table and chair, three fat peas (named Peter, Percival and Paul), four baby carrots (Caroline, Clara, Camilla and Christabel), and a handful of fries (all French, of course). Pursuing this string of unconventional runaways is a hungry boy named Banjo Cannon, Banjo's cat, show more Mildred, the neighbor's dog (pursuing Mildred, really), and Banjo's parents. Many mishaps (or not, depending upon one's perspective) ensue. Will Banjo catch his sausage? Will Melvin be eaten? Read and find out...
Like some other reviewers, I had mixed feelings about The Runaway Dinner, which has a zany, madcap sense of fun that will appeal to some, and leave others cold. The acrylic illustrations, done by Bruce Ingman, are also likely to appeal, or not, as the case may be. Truthfully, this was one I appreciated more than enjoyed - the artwork just isn't to my taste, and the story, while hilarious upon occasion, was rather uneven. Still, I think children who enjoy the bizarre and offbeat will like it, particularly if they have a fondness for "pursuit tales" (think The Gingerbread Man, and the like). show less
Like some other reviewers, I had mixed feelings about The Runaway Dinner, which has a zany, madcap sense of fun that will appeal to some, and leave others cold. The acrylic illustrations, done by Bruce Ingman, are also likely to appeal, or not, as the case may be. Truthfully, this was one I appreciated more than enjoyed - the artwork just isn't to my taste, and the story, while hilarious upon occasion, was rather uneven. Still, I think children who enjoy the bizarre and offbeat will like it, particularly if they have a fondness for "pursuit tales" (think The Gingerbread Man, and the like). show less
Though this book is quite long, I enjoyed it a lot. The plot was witty and easy to follow. A child would find this book rather humorous, I mean I found this book humorous. The conflict does not really appear until near the end of the book, but there is certainly suspense about how the "hero" will solve the problem that has been placed before him. The illustrations make the story, as it is a story almost entirely based off of illustrations. The fact the book starts with no illustrations and show more transitions to having pictures and then those pictures being colored in makes the whole thing that much more "believable". The writing of the book is easy to read, and it has a very nice flow to it. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 10
- Also by
- 9
- Members
- 1,215
- Popularity
- #21,126
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 62
- ISBNs
- 54
- Languages
- 3