THE FARAWAY TREE ILLUSTRATORS

I have been unable to find information on all the Faraway Tree illustrators mainly because most of these books (and many other Enid Blyton books) have not credited the illustrators. Further, lesser-known illustrators were used for Enid Blyton’s books. The pictures in most Enid Blyton books are usually very basic and black and white. Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone, illustrated the 1979 Dean edition of “The Enchanted Wood”—a deviation from the usual approach. “The Enchanted Wood (1979)” is beautifully illustrated with large, colourful, appealing drawings. Apart from this, “The Magic Faraway Tree (1981)” and “The Folk of the Faraway Tree (1983)” are also beautifully illustrated by Georgina Hargreaves. 

Book cover 'The Enchanted Wood' (1979 Dean Edition)

Illustration from the Enchanted Wood (1979 Dean Edition)

Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone

Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone, the two twin sisters, were born on 1 June 1928. Their mother—Doris Zinkeinsen—was a famous stage designer and portrait painter, whose talent had a tremendous impact on her two daughters. Janet and Anne did their schooling during the IInd World War. Then attended St. Martin’s School of Art, and began their career. During the early days of their career, they also worked closely with The British Television and produced a considerable amount of artwork for programmes, including “Tai Lu,” “Andy Pandy,” and “The Flower Pot Men.” (Information on these programmes can be found at http://tv.cream.org/ and http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/tv/kids/andypandy.htm).

However they began to get noticed by publishers only in the 1950s. In 1956, they illustrated Dodie Smith’s “A Hundred and One Dalmatians,” which was their first important work. It was an instant success after which they illustrated the sequels, “The Starlight Barking” and “The Midnight Kittens” as well. Very soon, they became famous and started illustrating for a number of books, with Janet specializing in animals and birds and Anne in period costume. Unfortunately, in 1979, Janet died in a tragic accident—the same year “The Enchanted Wood” was published. Having always worked as a team, Anne found herself alone for the first time in her life and was faced with the responsibility of the entire enterprise. Despite this, she managed to keep all her commitments and maintained the high standards that she and Janet had set as a team. In the 1980s, Anne illustrated many books on her own, including the editions of “Peter Pan” and “The Water Babies.” She also produced Christmas cards for Royles every year, which were very popular. She even wrote and illustrated two books about Santa Claus. Anne Grahame Johnstone died of cancer on 25 May 1998 at the age of 69.

Over the last few years, I have received several emails inquiring about the 1979 Dean edition of “The Enchanted Wood”—the only one that was illustrated by Janet and Anne Graham Johnstone. Unfortunately, this book is out-of-print now; you can see some of the illustrations from these books on this site. I have attempted to compile some information on the illustrators associated with the Faraway Tree. However, as you can see, this page is largely about the Johnstone sisters and Georgina Hargreaves. I continue to search for details regarding the other illustrators, so please write to me at tanmayeeb@hotmail.com if you can have any information that I can use on this page.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A FEW OF THEIR ILLUSTRATIONS

Georgina Hargreaves

Georgina Hargreaves was born in Bolton, Lancashire, in England in 1937. Her mother was a singer and a pianist, while her father was an engineer. Those were the war times and much of her childhood days were spent moving from one school to another. Georgina began painting at the age of three with occasional help from her brother, Harry. She started with Drawing and Painting books for the crafts class and then proceeded to write stories and illustrate them when she was eight years old.  

With her fine drawing and painting skills, at the age of 13, Georgina won a scholarship to the Bolton Art School. At 17 years of age, she quit school and began working as a display artist at a department store. She left for Canada in 1957 and during her stay, she designed souvenirs of Canada. When she returned home, she pursued a career in textile designing.  

She married in 1960 and has two children Jane (Jane Wardle today) and Paul. Jane had a horse that she called Prince Brownie 11. When the horse died, Georgina suggested that Jane should write a book about him and promised to illustrate it. Jane wrote four books that were illustrated by Georgina. These books were published in 1994 and are available on the Internet today.

In 1970, Georgina joined World International and furthered her artistic career by drawing colouring books for children and illustrating children’s books and annuals. She quit World International after 2 years and began working from home. Her first publisher was Dean & sons. She also produced fairy stories, TV books, and retold many classics including Heidi, Peter Pan, Oliver Twist, Robin Hood, Tom Sawyer, Alice in Wonderland, etc. She has illustrated some of these books more than 3 times. Georgina went on to illustrate the “TWINKLE” magazine for many years. 

When one of the Grahame Johnstone sisters died in 1979 after illustrating “The Enchanted Wood,” Georgina took over the contract. She illustrated “The Magic Faraway Tree (1981),” “The Folk of the Faraway Tree (1983),” “Adventures of the Wishing Chair (1983),” and “The Wishing Chair Again.” Her illustrations are colourful, bold, and extremely appealing, bringing alive the world of make-believe.  

CLICK HERE TO SEE A FEW OF HER ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THE FARAWAY TREE

The Folk of the Faraway Tree-Illustrated by Georgina Hargreaves (Dean Edition)

 Adventures of the Wishing Chair-Illustrated by Georgina Hargreaves (Dean Edition)

I do not have much information about the following illustrators who illustrated the other Magic Faraway tree books. Please write to me if you have relevant information

Lesley Smith

Lesley Smith illustrated 'The Folk of the Faraway Tree' 1978 Edition published by The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited.

Gerry Embleton 

Gerry Embleton did the Cover Illustration for 'The Magic Faraway Tree'.

Useful Links:

To read more about Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone and other Enid Blyton illustrators please visit:

http://histclo.hispeed.com/bio/b/blyton/ebillus.html
I also thank them for letting me use some of their information on this page.

http://www.oklahoma.net/~silvrdal/j&a2.html 
A very nice site with a biography, illustrations and even a picture of the Johnstone sisters.