Ernest Howard Shepard was born in London as the son of an architect. He entered the Royal Academy School in 1897 as one of it's youngest students. He published his first drawings in Punch in 1907, and remained working of for this magazine until 1953. He served as a Major in the British Army during the First World War, while sending his joke drawings about the battles to Punch. After the War, Shepard was hired to illustrate all the 'Winnie the Pooh' books by A. A. Milne. He was hired as a regular staff cartoonist of Punch in 1921, and became the magazine's lead cartoonist in 1945. After 1953, Shepard continued to illustrate books for many leading authors, including 'Kenneth Grahame ('Wind in the Willows'). While in his mid eighties, he wrote two children's books himself, which were titled 'Ben and Brook' (1966) and 'Betsy and Joe' (1967).