PAUL, Hamish Vigne Christie 1951-
(Korky Paul)

Personal

Born 1951, in Harare, Zimbabwe; married Susan Moxley (an artist); children: Zoe, Oska. Education: Attended Durban School of Art and California Institute of the Arts.

Addresses

Home— Oxford, England. Agent— c/o Author Mail, Bodley Head, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Rd., London SW1V 2SA, England. E-mail— [email protected].

Career

Freelance illustrator, 1976—; also worked in advertising agencies in Cape Town, South Africa, London, England, and Los Angeles, CA. Exhibitions: Mazza Collection Galleria, University of Findlay, Findlay, OH.

Awards, Honors

Children's Book Award, Federation of Children's Book Groups, overall winner, 1987, for Winnie the Witch, picture book winner, 1994, for The Rascally Cake, and shortlist, 1997, for Winnie in Winter; shortlist, Kate Greenaway Award, 1989, for Captain Teachum's Buried Treasure, 1992, for The Dog That Dug, and 1997, for The Duck That Had No Luck; Prix Octogone, 1992, for The Dog That Dug, and 1995, for The Monster Book of Horrible Horrors; Sheffield Children's Book Award, overall winner, 1993, for The Dog That Dug, and highly commended citation, 1995, for The Rascally Cake; Gateshead Gold Award, Gateshead Libraries and Arts, 1995, for The Cat That Scratched; Golden Hippo Award, overall winner, 1996, for Winnie the Witch; Prix de la Madeleines, École Edmond Rostand, 1997, for Winnie the Witch.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED; AS KORKY PAUL

The Small Book, Methuen (London, England), 1985.

The Big Book, Methuen (London, England), 1985.

The Fat Book, Methuen (London, England), 1985.

The Thin Book, Methuen (London, England), 1985.

Billy Bumps Builds a Palace, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1995.

SELF-ILLUSTRATED; "WRIGGLES THE WORM AND HIS WIGGLY FRIENDS" SERIES; AS KORKY PAUL

The Coconut Feast, Orbis (London, England), 1985.

Adventures with the Creep, Orbis (London, England), 1985.

The Special Romance, Orbis (London, England), 1985.

The Fruit Salad Tangle, Orbis (London, England), 1985.

ILLUSTRATOR; AS KORKY PAUL

John Bush, This Is a Book about Baboons: A Fun Rhyme for Children, Kestrel (Harmondsworth, England), 1983.

John Bush, This Is a Book about Giraffes: A Fun Rhyme for Children, Kestrel (Harmondsworth, England), 1983.

John Bush, This Is a Book about Hippos: A Fun Rhyme for Children, Kestrel (Harmondsworth, England), 1983.

Keren Kristal, The Brainbox, Methuen (London, England), 1986.

Valerie Thomas, Winnie the Witch, Kane/Miller (Brooklyn, NY), 1987.

Peter Carter, Captain Teachum's Buried Treasure, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1989.

Tessa Dahl, Gwenda and the Animals, Hamish Hamilton (London, England), 1989.

Tandi Jackson, The Wonderhair Restorer, Heinemann (Oxford, England), 1990.

John Foster, compiler, Never Say Boo to a Ghost, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1990.

Tessa Dahl, School Can Wait, Hamish Hamilton (London, England), 1990, Viking (New York, NY), 1991.

John Bush, The Fish Who Could Wish, Kane/Miller (Brooklyn, NY), 1991.

John Foster, compiler, Dragon Poems (also see below), Oxford University (Oxford, England), 1991.

Robin Tzannes, Professor Puffendorf's Secret Potions, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1992, (New York, NY), 1998.

Jonathan Long, The Dog That Dug, Bodley Head (London, England), 1992, Kane/Miller (Brooklyn, NY), 1993.

Robin Tzannes, The Great Robbery, Tango (London, England), 1993.

Robin Tzannes, Sanji and the Baker, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1993, (New York, NY), 1998.

John Foster, compiler, Dinosaur Poems (also see below), Oxford University (Oxford, England), 1993, (New York, NY), 1994.

Robin Tzannes, Mookie Goes Fishing, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1994.

Jonathan Long, The Cat That Scratched, Bodley Head (London, England), 1994.

Jeanne Willis, The Rascally Cake, Andersen (London, England), 1994.

Peter Tabern, Pirates, Andersen (London, England), 1994.

Peter Tabern, Blood and Thunder, Andersen (London, England), 1994.

Michel Piquemal, The Monster Book of Horrible Horrors, translated by Peter Haswell, Bodley Head (London, England), 1995.

John Foster, compiler, Monster Poems (also see below), Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1995.

Valerie Thomas, WinnieinWinter, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1996.

Jonathan Long, The Duck That Had No Luck, Bodley Head (London, England), 1996.

John Foster, compiler, Magic Poems, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1997.

Vivian French, Aesop's Funky Fables, Hamish Hamilton (London, England), 1997, Viking (New York, NY), 1998.

John Foster, compiler, Dragons, Dinosaurs, and Monster Poems (contains Dragon Poems, Dinosaur Poems, and Monster Poems ), Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1998.

John Agard, Brer Rabbit: The Great Tug-o-War, Barron's Educational (Hauppage, NY), 1998.

Teresa Lynch, Call Me Sam, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1998.

W. J. Corbett, The Battle of Chinnbrook Wood, Hodder (London, England), 1998.

Jonathan Long, The Wonkey Donkey, Bodley Head (London, England), 1999.

Michael Rosen, Lunch Boxes Don't Fly, Puffin (London, England), 1999.

Valerie Thomas, Winnie Flies Again, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1999, Kane/Miller (Brooklyn, NY), 2000.

John Foster, Pet Poems, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Vivian French, reteller, Funky Tales, Hamish Hamilton (London, England), 2000.

Michael Rosen, Uncle Billy Being Silly, Puffin (London, England), 2001.

John Foster, compiler, Fantastic Football Poems, Oxford University (Oxford, England), 2001.

Michael Rosen, No Breathing in Class, Puffin (New York, NY), 2002.

Paul Rogers, Tiny, Bodley Head (London, England), 2002.

Mary Arrigan, Pa Jinglebob: The Fastest Knitter in the West, Egmont (London, England), 2002.

Valerie Thomas, Winnie's Magic Wand, Oxford University Press (London, England), 2002.

Jon Blake, The Deadly Secret of Dorothy W., Hodder (London, England), 2003.

Valerie Thomas, Winnie's New Computer, Oxford University Press (London, England), 2003.

Also illustrator of Sound Bites: Quotes for Our Times, 1997.

POP-UP BOOKS; WITH RAY MARSHALL; AS KORKY PAUL

Cats Up: Purring Pop-Ups, Little Simon (New York, NY), 1982.

The Crocodile and the Dumper Truck: A Reptilian Guide to London, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1982.

Doors, Dutton (New York, NY), 1982.

Hey Diddle Diddle, Little Simon (New York, NY), 1983.

Humpty Dumpty, Little Simon (New York, NY), 1983.

Jack and Jill, Little Simon (New York, NY), 1983.

Sing a Song of Sixpence, Little Simon (New York, NY), 1983.

Pop-Up Numbers, Dutton (New York, NY), 1984.

Pop-Up Addition, Kestrel (Harmondsworth, England), 1984.

Pop-Up Subtraction, Kestrel (Harmondsworth, England), 1984.

Pop-Up Multiplication, Kestrel (Harmondsworth, England), 1984.

Pop-Up Division, Kestrel (Harmondsworth, England), 1984.

OTHER POP-UP BOOKS; AS KORKY PAUL

Stephen Wyllie, Dinner with Fox, Dial (New York, NY), 1990.

The Pop-Up Book of Ghost Tales, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1991.

Shen Roddie, Mrs. Wolf, Tango (London, England), 1992, Dial (New York, NY), 1993.

Peter Harris, Have You Seen Max?, Aladdin (New York, NY), 1994.

Julianna Bethlen, Dracula Junior and the Fake Fangs, paper engineering by Richard Ferguson, Dial (New York, NY), 1996.

Adaptations

The "Winnie" books were adapted for the stage by Anthony Clark. Dragon Poems, Winnie the Witch, and The Fish Who Could Wish are all available on CD-ROM. Several titles have been adapted into English as second language books, including Winnie the Witch and Professor Puffendorf's Secret Potions.

Work in Progress

Illustrating John Bush's Who Could Forget Lion Is King, for Oxford University Press (London, England).

Sidelights

Award-winning British author and illustrator Hamish Vigne Christie Paul, who uses the pseudonym Korky Paul, is known for his humorous, cartoon-like illustrations and imaginative pop-up books. He may be best known for illustrating Valerie Thomas's books about a whimsical witch named Winnie. "These stories are much loved by the three-to-seven age group," Lyn Gardner noted in the Guardian, and "it is Paul's wild, exuberant, detailed illustrations that are intrinsic to their appeal."

In one entry in the "Winnie" series, Winnie Flies Again, the little witch keeps flying into things on her broom. She abandons the sky for the ground but continues to have numerous mishaps, riding her bike into a pond, snagging a low-hanging branch while riding a horse, and falling through an open manhole while walking down the street. Finally, the saleslady in an eyeglasses shop figures out what the problem is and sells Winnie a pair of glasses. The story is not very complicated, but "Paul's busy cartoons are packed with visual jokes," Kathleen Kelly MacMillan wrote in School Library Journal. Winnie's broom is not just a simple stick: it has a bicycle seat, stirrups, and headlights. In the eyeglass shop, a pirate, complete with eye patch, searches for one-lensed sunglasses. Paul's "line drawings … seem to grow more detailed with rereadings," thought a Publishers Weekly reviewer, who went on to claim they "are full of surprises."

Paul's sense of humor is also apparent in his "droll depiction of the fish's wishful life" in The Fish Who Could Wish, noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer. In this story by John Bush, there is a fish whose wishes come true. He wishes for many unusual things: a sports car, nice clothes, even for a ski trip. (In the illustration where the fish gets to ski, the reader finds a snowman casting a line while wearing a diving mask.) But the fish's wishing comes to an end when he wishes that he could be more like the other fish: "But wishing was something / Other fish could not do. / So that was his very last / wish that came true." Calling Paul's artwork an "ideal complement" to Bush's text, School Library Journal critic Denise Anton Wright predicted that "young children will be fascinated with the theme and humorous illustrations."

Biographical and Critical Sources

BOOKS

Bush, John, The Fish Who Could Wish, illustrated by Korky Paul, Kane/Miller (Brooklyn, NY), 1991.

Children's Literature Review, Volume 87, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2003.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 1993, Ilene Cooper, review of Professor Puffendorf's Secret Potions, pp. 990-991.

Guardian (London, England), May 12, 1998, review of Brer Rabbit: The Great Tug-o-War, p. 3.

Independent (London, England), January 30, 1997, Louise Levene, interview with Paul, p. 10.

New York Times Book Review, July 4, 1982, Barbara Karlin, review of The Crocodile and the Dumper Truck, p. 13.

People, October 28, 1991, Susan Toepfer, review of The Pop-Up Book of Ghost Tales, p. 33.

Publishers Weekly, February 5, 1982, review of The Crocodile and the Dumper Truck, p. 387; February 3, 1984, review of Pop-Up Numbers, p. 402; October 30, 1987, review of Winnie the Witch, p. 68; April 26, 1991, review of The Fish Who Could Wish, p. 59; July 13, 1992, review of Professor Puffendorf's Secret Potions, pp. 55-56; May 17, 1993, review of Mrs. Wolf, p. 80; February 9, 1998, review of Aesop's Funky Fables, pp. 95-96; March 27, 2000, review of Winnie Flies Again, p. 79.

School Library Journal, October, 1990, Ruth Smith, review of Dinner with Fox, p. 105; August, 1991, Denise Anton Wright, review of The Fish Who Could Wish, p. 143; January, 1992, Carolyn Noah, review of School Can Wait, pp. 108-109; December, 1997, Susan Hepler, review of WinnieinWinter, pp. 101-102; August, 1998, Susan M. Moore, review of Sanji and the Baker, pp. 146-147; July, 2000, Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, review of Winnie Flies Again, p. 88; October, 2001, Sally R. Dow, review of Pet Poems, pp. 138-139.

ONLINE

Korky Paul Home Page, http://www.korkypaul.com/ (January 14, 2004).