Ian Beck
Ian Archibald Beck (born 17 August 1947 in Hove) is an English children's illustrator and author. In addition to his numerous children's books, he is also known for his cover illustration on Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album. More than a million copies of his books have been sold worldwide.
Also recorded as Ian Archibald Beck
Ian Beck

Edmund Beck · photographer: Edmund Beck · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- Ian Beck
- Born
- 17 August 1947
- Birthplace
- Hove, Sussex, England, UK
- Nationality
- British
- Education
- Bachelor of Arts
- Occupation
- Novelist, illustrator
- Spouse
- Emma Stone
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Ian Archibald Beck (born 17 August 1947 in Hove) is an English children's illustrator and author. In addition to his numerous children's books, he is also known for his cover illustration on Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album. More than a million copies of his books have been sold worldwide.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q15486043 · wikipedia · Ian Beck
In this article
Biography
Biography
Beck was Master of the Art Workers' Guild in 1999.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Ian Beck • Imagesize — 250px • Born — 17 August 1947 • Birthplace — Hove, Sussex, England, UK • Nationality — British • Education — Bachelor of Arts • Alma Mater — Brighton College of Art • Occupation — Novelist, illustrator • Period — 1968−present • Genre — Children's literature, fantasy • Spouse — Emma Stone • Children — 3
Early life
Early life
Having attended a local secondary modern school after failing the Eleven-plus examination, Ian Beck was encouraged by the art teacher and headmaster to attend Brighton College of Art where he studied illustration and graphic design, being taught by Raymond Briggs and John Vernon Lord. He graduated in 1968.
Professional life
Professional life
At this point, Beck moved to London, as a freelance illustrator while working part-time at Harrods in the toy department. He gradually built up a clientele, working for consumer magazines like Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, and Homes and Gardens. He also began making advertisements for the recording industry, for artists like Ry Cooder and Richie Havens. He then went into designing and illustrating album covers as well such as Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, for Elton John. He carried on working in the record industry until the early 1980s. He has had many commissions from the Conran Design Group, including packaging, greeting cards, calendars, interior design panels. He also had a commission for murals in a restaurant at Gatwick Airport. Oxford University Press had seen some drawings he had done for the Radio Times and wanted him to illustrate a project for children for them, which they wanted to publish. His first picture book, Round and Round the Garden, was published in 1982. After the success of this book, others followed and in 1989, he wrote his first story to illustrate, The Teddy Robber. In 1997 his book, Home Before Dark won a gold award in the best toy awards and in 2000 he again won the award, this time for Alone in the Woods. He again won the award for The Happy Bee. He was elected the Master of the Art Workers' Guild in 1999, and is a former president of the Double Crown Club. He produced his first novel The Secret History of Tom Trueheart, Boy Adventurer, which was published on 1 June 2006; subsequent editions appeared in more than twenty languages. This was followed by the sequel Tom Trueheart and the Land of Dark Stories, which was published on 6 March 2008 and the third book in the series, Tom Trueheart and the Land of Myth and Legends on 2 September 2010. He has written three other novels, Pastworld (Bloomsbury, 2009), The Hidden Kingdom (Oxford University Press, 2011), and The Haunting of Charity Delafield (Bodley Head, 2011). In 2012, Beck created a set of drawings of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Little Tich for a hospital ward in Harrow, Middlesex, under the auspices of the charity The Nightingale Project. Beck has produced further drawings in this series, depicting other stars of music hall and early cinema, for a public exhibition entitled The Limelight Pictures that ran from February to June 2013. In 2017, Beck's first one-man exhibition of original drawings were held from 1924 June at the Art Workers’ Guild in London. He is married with three children and continues in close touch with children through regular visits to schools and libraries, talking about the creation of his books and reading stories.
Notes ==== External links
Notes ==== External links
• Official websites: www.tomtrueheart.com and ianbeck.wordpress.com • Biography at TellingTrails.co.uk • Ian Beck *
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself.
Works and production
Works and production
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count. It is also recorded that ian Beck is recorded with the occupation writer. It is also recorded that ian Beck is recorded with the occupation illustrator. It is also recorded that ian Beck is recorded with the occupation children's writer. Recorded as a citizen of United Kingdom. It is also recorded that ian Beck is recorded with the gender male. It is also recorded that ian Beck was born on 31 July 1947.
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q15486043: Ian Beck
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Ian Beck”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Mr Beck's big adventure. The Times. 27 May 2006.
- 2.Northern Children's Book Festival. Biography of Ian Beck.
- 3.Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. Biography of Ian Beck.
- 4.Art Workers' Guild. Past Masters.
- 5.Art Workers' Guild. Ian Archie Beck.
- 6.Ian Beck's official website: http://ianbeck.wordpress.com
- 7.Tom Trueheart
- 8.Ian Beck's official website: http://ianbeck.wordpress.com/about-2/
- 9.Nightingale Project. Ian Beck.
- 10.Art Workers' Guild. Fête galantes - Exhibition by PM Ian Archie Beck.
- 11.Author Information
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q15486043: Ian BeckWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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