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John Burningham is working on a sequel to Would You Rather, his bestselling picture book released 40 years ago.
Burningham announced the news last week when he was given BookTrust’s Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony which jointly honoured his wife, Helen Oxenbury.
More Would You Rather will be published on 2nd August by Penguin Random House Children’s imprint Jonathan Cape.
Andrea MacDonald, editorial director at Penguin Random House Children’s, said: “More Would You Rather is a fabulous sequel to Would You Rather, which was published forty years ago this year. John has masterfully created a book that is every bit as funny and imaginative and original as its predecessor. It brilliantly provokes conversations between children and adults, and will be enjoyed and played and loved for years to come.”
Speaking to The Bookseller about winning the lifetime achievement award, Burningham said he was "thrilled", adding: "I’m fortunate that things I did fifty years ago are still selling. They don’t look out of date."
He said he had no plans to retire any time soon, even though the process of creating a book is "very difficult".
"People who are not artists don’t understand. If you are a pianist you have to practice every day and it's the same with art. You have moments of great uplift but often it is not fun, and you have moments when it is a real chore."