Allan Ahlberg, a renowned author of over 150 children’s books, had a literary career spanning more than five decades, much of which he shared with his first wife, illustrator Janet Ahlberg, who passed away in 1994.
“The Jolly Christmas Postman,” one of the duo’s most celebrated works, introduced the authors to the Portuguese book market in 1992 through Desabrochar, followed by “The Boy, The Wolf, The Sheep, and The Cabbage” (2005), illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg and published by Texto, as well as “Funnybones” (2021) with Janet Ahlberg, and “Dinosaur Dreams” (2023) with André Amstutz, both published by Kalandraka.
Francesca Dow, head of the children’s literature department at Penguin Random House, remarked in the publisher’s statement that the writer’s “brilliant books” have long been regarded as “mini masterpieces.”
“Allan was one of the most extraordinary authors I had the privilege and pleasure of working with,” Francesca Dow said, adding that “Allan’s [books] are among the best—true classics that will be adored by children and families for many years.”
“We will all miss him greatly,” concluded the editor.
Ahlberg was born in Croydon, South London, in 1938, and was raised in Oldbury, West Midlands, England.
Before pursuing a career in writing, he worked as a postman, plumber, and gravedigger, eventually studying at Sunderland Teacher Training College, where he met his first wife, Janet.
In 1975, the Ahlbergs published their first book, “Here are the Brick Street Boys.”
Subsequent works included “The Old Joke Book,” “Burglar Bill and Each Peach Pear Plum,” for which Janet received the Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration, and “The Jolly Postman,” which won the Kurt Maschler Award for children’s literature. The second book in this series, “The Jolly Christmas Postman” (1991), earned a second Kate Greenaway Medal.
The adventures of “Woof!,” about a boy who turns into a dog, inspired the eponymous youth series, aired by ITV between 1989 and 1997, as well as a film directed by David Cobham.
In 2014, Allan Ahlberg declined the Booktrust Best Book award for his lifetime work, as it was sponsored by Amazon. “Couldn’t Booktrust find a more morally appropriate sponsor?” he wrote at the time in a letter to the award and its sponsor, quoted by the BBC. “Taxes, fairly applied to us all, are a good thing. They pay for schools, hospitals, and libraries! When companies like Amazon cheat—paying 0.1% on billions, pretending to make money not in the UK, but in Luxembourg—that is bad.”
Today, fellow children’s author Michael Rosen, known for “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt,” described Allan Ahlberg as “the pioneering figure of great children’s literature,” in a reaction to his death, as reported by the BBC.
“You were clever, funny, and wise. My children loved your books. So did I,” Rosen concluded.
