Beloved author Allan Ahlberg, who wrote the children’s classic Funnybones, has died aged 87, his publisher Penguin Random House has confirmed.
His career spanned more than five decades, writing 150 books including Woof!, The Jolly Postman and the award-winning Peach Pear Plum.
He worked with his late wife Janet – an award-winning illustrator – and the pair went on to sell millions of books around the world.
After Janet’s death in 1994, he worked with illustrators such as Raymond Briggs and Bruce Ingman. He also produced a series of collaborations with his daughter Jessica including Half a Pig and a set of innovative variations on the tale of Goldilocks.
Fellow children’s author Michael Rosen described Ahlberg as a “pioneer of great children’s literature”.
In a tribute on X, he said: “You were a pioneer of great children’s literature, both in picture books and poetry.
“You were clever, funny and wise. My children loved your books. So did and so do I.”
Francesca Dow, head of children’s literature at Penguin Random House, said: “Allan was one of the most extraordinary authors I have had the privilege and pleasure to work with.
“His brilliant books – so many of them created with his late wife, Janet, the highly talented illustrator – have been described as ‘mini masterpieces’.
“Allan’s are some of the very best – true classics, which will be loved by children and families for years to come. Dear Allan, we will all miss you enormously.”
The publishing house put out his last picture book, Under the Table, in 2023.
He is survived by his daughter Jessica, his wife Vanessa, and stepdaughters Saskia and Johanna.
Ahlberg was born in Croydon in 1938. He was brought up by his adoptive parents in Oldbury, and worked as a postman, plumber and gravedigger. Eventually he trained to become a teacher at Sunderland Teacher Training College.
Several of his books won awards or were adapted into children’s TV series.
The Jolly Postman, which was published in 1991, won the Kurt Maschler Award and has sold over six million copies.
Funnybones, about a family of skeletons, was adapted into a children’s TV series aired on the BBC in 1992.
His book Woof!, about a little boy who turns into a dog, inspired a TV series which ran on ITV between 1989 and 1997.
In 2014, Ahlberg made headlines for turning down a lifetime achievement award after he discovered it was sponsored by Amazon.
