Here they moved from place to place, but they were never too far from Ipswich where Edward’s grandmother resided. His first commissioned break came by way of Johnny Walker – the whisky distillers – who wanted drawings for commercial use; but it was not until his first show at the Bloomsbury Gallery that Ardizzone started to attract the kind of critical acclaim he was later to achieve. The cheery tone shows great affection for the elder men: here their gaze towards the younger woman passer-by is intended as a reassuring sign that all is at it should be. His drawings along the way are among the bleakest of his wartime output, showing the devastation wrought on towns such as Louvain (Leuven) in Belgium, which formed part of the BEF’s frontline before the retreat. After school he continued to pursue his interest in the arts, working as a commercial artist but also, foreshadowing his later occupation, as model and furniture maker, before studying what would become his main concern, architecture, at Regent Street Polytechnic (1938-41).

He was an official war artist during World War II, working widely in Europe and North Africa, and his illustrated diaries are notable records. When Ardizzone was four or five years old his mother brought him and two siblings to Suffolk to be looked after by their grandmother so that she and her husband could remain in the Far East.In 1960 he retired from his teaching posts and began spending more time at Rodmersham Green in Kent before moving there permanently in 1972.

His first exhibition was at the Lefevre Gallery, in 1937, but he exhibited at the Royal College of Art; the Waddington Galleries, the New Grafton Gallery; the Bohun Gallery; and Pallant House Gallery, Chichester. After the War, Ardizzone resumed his freelance career and received commissions from The Strand Magazine for cover artwork, from the Ealing film studios for promotional material and from the Guinness company for adverts. The area of Maida Vale in London was also very familiar to the artist, as the Ardizzone family had lived there since 1920.The success of Tim All Alone and the continuation of the series clearly caught the attention of the wider art world as well as that of illustration: in 1967 Ardizzone was commissioned by the Royal Post Office to design birthday greetings telegrams, in 1970 became an elected member of the Royal Academy, and in 1971 was awarded a CBE for his contributions to the world of British art. His 1970 autobiography, The Young Ardizzone - an autobiographical fragment, was illustrated with his own drawings. The village is known for its textile heritage, and Tschudi would briefly experiment with designs for textiles when she put certain of her images onto pillow and cushion cases.