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Jan Pieńkowski, who died in 2022, remains one of the most celebrated and beloved illustrators in the history of children’s literature, perhaps best known for his work on the ‘Meg and Mog’ series with Helen Nicoll. He was a pioneering force in the development of pop-up books, with the award-winning 3-D explosion that was ‘Haunted House’ becoming an immediate favourite, while his sophisticated silhouette work in titles such as ‘The Kingdom Under The Sea’, and A Necklace of Raindrops’ created mindscapes that have by now entranced generations of children. In this programme Ed Vere, a children’s illustrator who knew Jan since he himself was a child, sorts through some of his friend and mentor’s archive, stored in a giant wooden chest in Jan’s home. He talks to Jan’s husband, David, as well as other writers and illustrators including Nadia Shireen, Frank Cottrell Boyce, SF Said and Chris Riddell - and we hear archive of Jan himself describing his traumatic childhood in war-torn Europe and the impact the enforced exile from his home in Poland had on his life and work.

Produced by Geoff Bird.