Ingman, Bruce 1963-

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Ingman, Bruce 1963-

Personal

Born 1963, in Liverpool, England; son of a dressmaker; married; children: Alvie (daughter). Education: Attended Nottingham Trent University and Royal College of Art.

Addresses

Home—London, England.

Career

Author and illustrator. Teacher at art colleges.

Awards, Honors

National Art Library Illustration Award, 1995, and Mother Goose Award, 1996, both for When Martha's Away; Victoria and Albert Second Prize for Book Illustration (jointly with Simone Lia), 2004.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

When Martha's Away, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1995.

Lost Property, Methuen (London, England), 1997, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1998.

A Night on the Tiles, Methuen (London, England), 1998, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1999.

Bad News! I'm in Charge, Candlewick Press (Boston, MA), 2003.

ILLUSTRATOR

Sean Taylor, Boing!, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2004.

Kate Feiffer, Double Pink, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2005.

Allan Ahlberg, The Runaway Diner, Candlewick Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Allan Ahlberg, Previously, Candlewick Press (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor of illustrations to periodicals, including Vogue and London Sunday Times.

Sidelights

British author and illustrator Bruce Ingman is the creator of several picture books for young children. As an illustrator, he is known for mixing gestured line drawings with collage elements and interesting graphic images, all washed with vibrant colors. Beginning his picture-book career in 1996 with the award-winning When Martha's Away, Ingman has gone on to write and illustrate several more picture books, as well as creating art for texts by authors such as Kate Feiffer, Sean Taylor, and Allan Ahlberg.

In his award-winning first book, When Martha's Away, Ingman follows a cat named Lionel on its rounds during a day left at home alone. While Martha, his young caretaker, believes the cat sleeps each day away, Lionel in fact keeps current on world news, cooks himself fancy lunches, and entertains the female cats in the neighborhood, all while keeping up his reputation for shiftlessness. Reviewers remarked not only on Ingman's story but also on his illustrations. Calling When Martha's Away "a keen debut," Ilene Cooper wrote in Booklist that Ingman's "art has a childlike feel that readers of all ages will respond to." Reviewing the book for School Library Journal, Kathy Mitchell claimed that "the bold, uncluttered illustrations … define objects quite nicely and are pleasing to the eye," and a Kirkus Reviews critic predicted that When Martha's Away "will inspire laughs out loud from all readers, no matter what their ages."

Lionel makes an encore appearance in A Night on the Tiles, a book that reveals what happens when the clever cat is supposedly fast asleep on Martha's bed. Instead of snoozing, the feline waits until his owner falls asleep before beginning his own event-packed evening. During the moonlight hours, the nocturnal Lionel attends classes at the Cat Academy, has his whiskers trimmed at Jean-Pierre's, and watches a movie with a female friend before returning home in time to resume his on-the-bed posture. Reviewers again commented favorably on Ingman's artwork, a Publishers Weekly critic noting that the author/illustrator's "exuberant use of wonderfully balanced color fields and quick-flowing, quirkily expressive line drawings" exudes "a celebratory, happy energy."

Misplaced objects are the featured attraction in Ingman's Lost Property, a book described by a Publishers Weekly contributor as a "winning successor to his debut." Strangely, things seem to go missing in Maurice's house, everything from his father's dry-cleaning stub to bathroom towels to car keys. As readers observe, Mac, the family dog, is a nearby presence every time a family member realizes that one thing or another is not where he or she left it. "Details of the family mess will make kids laugh," predicted Booklist reviewer Hazel Rochman, while a Kirkus Reviews critic suggested that Lost Property "works best as inspiration for children to put together their own scenes of comic domestic turmoil."

In his self-illustrated picture book Bad News! I'm in Charge! Ingman "once again wields delectably artless acrylics and a wicked sense of humor," according to a Publishers Weekly contributor. When Danny discovers a document that makes him the ruler of the land, he sets

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about making changes to the parental rules. Along with ordering that French fries be served at every meal, Danny decrees that all schoolchildren can bring their pets to class, making the day more fun. As the work piles up and distasteful but necessary tasks remain undone, readers learn the downside to a child being in charge via a story that a Kirkus Reviews writer dubbed "gleeful." "Ingman's illustrations will likely charm all ages," a Publishers Weekly contributor noted of Bad News! I'm in Charge!, citing the "delightful unfinished elements" in the book's "intriguing compositions."

As an illustrator, Ingman "paints the dynamic action" of Sean Taylor's humorous picture book, Boing!, in post-modern paintings "with a reckless elan," according to a Publishers Weekly reviewer. The story of a man with rubber legs, Boing! pairs Taylor's slapstick storyline about a trampoline artist with acrylic paintings that Booklist contributor Michael Cart deemed "a suitable match for this simple but zany tale." One of several collaborations between Ingman and Ahlberg, The Runaway Diner inspired School Library Journal contributor Linda Ludke to write that the illustrator's "naive drawings of the stick-legged sausage and his fellow runaways will elicit giggles." In Ahlberg's lighthearted story, a hungry boy is startled when the components of his dinner—the silverware and dishes as well as every pea and carrot—suddenly become individual creatures with names and leap off the table and out the door. Ingman's "childlike" illustrations for The Runaway Diner "are expressively and colorfully detailed," concluded a Kirkus Reviews writer, describing the work as a "madcap riff … for primary-grade readers."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 1996, Ilene Cooper, review of When Martha's Away, p. 845; April 15, 1998, Hazel Rochman, review of Lost Property, p. 1452; April 1, 1999, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of A Night on the Tiles, p. 1420; April 1, 2003, Hazel Rochman, review of Bad News! I'm in Charge!, p. 1402; August, 2004, Michael Cart, review of Boing!, p. 1946.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, June, 2003, review of Bad News! I'm in Charge!, p. 406.

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 1995, review of When Martha's Away, p. 1352; February 18, 1998, review of Lost Property, p. 268; February 15, 1999, review of A Night on the Tiles, p. 300; March 15, 2003, review of Bad News! I'm in Charge!, p. 469; June 15, 2004, review of Boing!, p. 582; October 15, 2005, review of Double Pink, p. 1136; September 15, 2006, review of The Runaway Diner, p. 945.

Publishers Weekly, October 23, 1995, review of When Martha's Away, p. 67; March 16, 1998, review of Lost Property, p. 63; February 15, 1999, review of A Night on the Tiles, p. 107; March 10, 2003, review of Bad News! I'm in Charge!, p. 71; July 12, 2004, review of Boing!, p. 63; November 7, 2005, review of Double Pink, p. 72; October 2, 2006, review of The Runaway Diner, p. 61.

School Library Journal, December, 1995, Kathy Mitchell, review of When Martha's Away, p. 81; April, 1998, Jackie Hechkopf, review of Lost Property, p. 100; March, 1999, Joy Fleishhacker, review of A Night on the Tiles, p. 176; August, 2003, Liza Graybill, review of Bad News! I'm in Charge!, p. 129; August, 2004, Shawn Brommer, review of Boing!, p. 96; November, 2005, Catherine Threadgill, review of Double Pink, p. 90; December, 2006, Linda Ludke, review of The Runaway Diner, p. 94.