- James Kenward
James Kenward (1908–1993), English author and
illustrator , best known for his accounts of suburban and prep school life.Kenward was born in 1908 in
South London , the son of the Lloyd's insurance broker who invented rain insurance. He received his prep school education at Ripple Vale School nearDeal inKent until enteringBrighton College in 1919. On leaving Brighton he trained at theRuskin School of Art and spent three years atLloyds’ in his father’s footsteps before taking up writing full-time, at the age of twenty. His first novel for adults, "John and David", a story of feuding brothers, was published by Peter Davies in 1931. This was followed by the fantasy "Summervale" in 1935, published by Constable and Co. and recounting the metamorphosis of an unassuming suburban insurance broker into a dog. "The Manewood Line", a fictional account of the rise, decline and revival ofSelsey 's branch line and Kenward’s last novel for adults (described as "A Romance" on the fly-leaves of later books), was published by Stanley Paul in 1937. Kenward’s next book, "The Roof-Tree", can be classed loosely as a work on architecture and was first published in 1938: it was reissued in The Oxford Bookshelf series in 1941. This was the first book that Kenward illustrated himself, apart from a few maps drawn for "The Manewood Line".Although he held strong pacifist views, Kenward served as a gunner in the Second World War and made many drawings of army life. During the push of the Allied forces into Germany in 1944-45 he gave courses in
Fine Art to fellow soldiers. After the War, he met his future wife inLausanne inSwitzerland ; they were to have four children. Kenward’s first publication after the War was "Prince Foamytail" (published by Comyns in 1946), a book for children developing material drawn from "Summervale", and again self-illustrated. He followed this with the autobiographical "The Suburban Child" (1955), illustrated byEdward Ardizzone and published byCambridge University Press . Its sequel, "Prep School", was published by Michael Joseph in 1958 and illustrated by Christopher Brooker. Kenward’s last two books, for children, were "The Market Train Mystery" and "The Story of the Poor Author", both published by Nisbet in 1959. James Kenward died in 1993 leaving behind a substantial quantity of unpublished material.James Kenward’s Books
*"John and David" (London, Peter Davies, 1931);
*"Summervale" (London, Constable and Co., 1935);
*"The Manewood Line" (London, Stanley Paul, 1937);
*"The Roof-Tree" (Oxford, OUP, 1938 reprinted 1941);
*"Prince Foamytail" (London, Comyns, 1946);
*"The Suburban Child" (Cambridge, CUP, 1955);
*"Prep School" (London, Michael Joseph, 1958 and Penguin, 1961);
*"The Market Train Mystery" (Welwyn, Nisbet, 1959);
*"The Story of the Poor Author" (Welwyn, Nisbet, 1959)
*"Faber Junior Dictionary" (Faber, 1964)
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