Allen & Unwin Pip and Posy: The Big Balloon book English 24 pages

The fourth book of a series about the dramas of toddler life created by Axel Scheffler, illustrator of The Gruffalo which has sold more than two million copies world-wide. This is a board book edition.

Pip is very proud of his big red balloon. But when he lets the balloon go and it pops, he is inconsolable. Luckily, Posy has a clever idea to cheer up her friend and soon they are having fun again!

Axel was born in Hamburg, Germany. At school he was good at art, but didn't think of a career in illustration until he won a cuddly purple cow in a drawing competition. He moved to England in 1982 to learn English and study illustration at the Bath Academy of Art and then set up home in London. Axel illustrated a number of books for various publishers, and in 1993 Kate Wilson suggested him as the illustrator for Julia Donaldson's first picture book text, A Squash and a Squeeze. This was the start of a hugely successful partnership: their bestselling modern classic, The Gruffalo, has sold over three-and-a-half million copies worldwide, and the TV animation was broadcast on Christmas day 2009.Axel has illustrated a number of other highly successful books, including Muddle Farm, and his books have been translated into 42 languages. Axel lives in London with his partner and young daughter.