Have you heard about Horrid Henry? He's so horrid and disgusting. So much so, in fact, that he leaves a lasting impression on children and adults around the world. But it is the illustrations for the hilarious series of Horrid Henry books that make them even funnier and, yes, more disgusting.
The person responsible for tickling our funny bones is popular children's book illustrator Tony Ross, who collaborated with the author Francesca Simon to come up with this winning combination.
And winning it is. Since 1993 when the first Horrid Henry book was written and published, the talented pair have created 16 titles, joke books and activity books, with the combined sales of all the Horrid Henry books and audiobooks now at 10 million copies.
Besides drawing the pictures for the Horrid Henry story books, Ross has illustrated more than 800 books for many other writers including Roald Dahl, Paula Danziger and Michael Palin. Ross also finds time to write and illustrate his own books, most famously the best-selling Little Princess series. The Little Princess stories are about a young princess going through various phases of life from accepting a new sibling in her life, to learning to use the potty, to realising that she can't always get her own way.
Ross provides clever, colourful illustrations that make the stories edgy and fun, and his text is lighthearted and humorous.
The hilarious adventures have titles such as 'Say Please!' and 'Wash your hands!' and 'I don't want to go to bed' - all handy topics which parents can use to introduce their children to the joys of reading through humour and teach them valuable life lessons. The Little Princess has enjoyed such success it has recently been turned into a children's television series.
Born in London in 1938, Ross trained at the Liverpool School of Art and Design and worked as a cartoonist, a graphic designer, an art director for an advertising agency, and a lecturer at Manchester Polytechnic. While teaching there, he began drawing cartoons for various magazines.