Quentin Blake went to Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School, before entering into National Service. Then he studied English at Downing College, Cambridge, before going on to do a postgraduate teaching diploma at the University of London, followed by life-classes at Chelsea Art School. As well as teaching for over twenty years at the Royal College of Art, he was head of the Illustration department from 1978 to 1986. He was first published in Punch, aged 16 while he was still in school. He is best known for his collaboration with writers such as Russell Hoban, Joan Aiken, Michael Rosen, John Yeoman and, most famously, Roald Dahl.