UG: Boy Genius of the Stone Age and His Search for Soft Trousers by Raymond Briggs

By Raymond Briggs (author) , Raymond Briggs (illustrator)

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Raymond Briggs who has created characters that are now icons for generations of children, including Fungus the Bogeyman, Father Christmas and, of course, the beloved Snowman, delves into The Stone Age with the loveable Ug.

Not impressed with life in The Stone Age: stone blankets, stone cold food, an even colder cave and, worst of all, hard stone trousers and being an inquisitive and intelligent child, Ug suggests a series of modifications to improve the quality of family life. His ideas about heating, cooking, boats, and balls that actually bounce are initially met with a hostile reaction.

But with the help of his father, who slowly comes round to his son's way of thinking, Ug comes tantalisingly close to his ultimate garment goal . . .

Ug and his parents live in the Stone Age. And that means stone blankets, stone cold food, an even colder cave and, worst of all, hard stone trousers! Being an inquisitive and intelligent child, Ug suggests a series of modifications to improve the quality of family life.

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His ideas about heating, cooking, boats, and balls that actually bounce are initially met with a hostile reaction. But with the help of his father, who slowly comes round to his son's way of thinking, Ug comes tantalisingly close to his ultimate garment goal . . .

Raymond Briggs (1934-2022) was one of our most respected and beloved artists. Born in Wimbledon Park in 1934, he studied at the Wimbledon School of Art and later at the Slade School of Fine Art, and went on to produce a treasure trove of work. He created characters that are now icons for generations of children, including Fungus the Bogeyman, Father Christmas and, of course, the beloved Snowman.

He won many awards over his career including the Kurt Maschler Award, The Children's Book of the Year, Dutch Silver Pen Award, and the prestigious Kate Greenaway Award twice for his Mother Goose Nursery Treasury and Father Christmas.

Raymond Briggs was awarded the BookTrust 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award. The BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates the body of work of an author or illustrator who has made an outstanding contribution to children's literature. The award was set up in 2015 to celebrate an author or illustrator's outstanding contribution to children's books. The first winner was Shirley Hughes, author of Dogger and the Alfie series, whilst Judith Kerr was awarded the accolade in 2016.

Discussing the impact of Raymond Briggs’ work, Judge Shami Chakrabarti said: "Raymond is a true artistic genius who has touched the hearts of millions of children of all ages. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and his particular style of illustration is unmistakable as are his understated and poignant words of narrative and dialogue. His talent expresses his values and with his choice and treatment of subjects he brings our history and contemporary challenges to life."

The biography of his parents in graphic novel form, Ethel & Ernest, became a bestseller in the UK; see below a trailer for the animated feature film based on the novel.