[2] His last published work was a husband-and-wife collaboration, There's Going to Be a New Baby (Walker Books, September 2011), written by John and illustrated by Helen for "ages 2+".
[5][6] The first was for his debut as illustrator (and author), Borka: The Adventures of a Goose with No Feathers, named one of the top ten winning works for the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005).
[3][5] For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel of experts named Borka one of the top ten winning works, which composed the ballot for a public election of the nation's favourite.
[7] Cape was soon looking for someone to illustrate a forthcoming children's adventure serial called Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang that was written by Ian Fleming, its most successful author at the time.
Burningham's witty and timeless art-work, along with Fleming's imaginative text, led Chitty to become the most famous and best loved car in English-language fiction.
[6][20] Oxenbury was later a highly commended runner up four times, and eventually won a second Medal of her own for an edition of Alice in Wonderland (Walker, 1999) that was also named to the anniversary top ten.
The jury summarised, "John Burningham from the UK uses delicate irony mixed with innocence and high seriousness that with his use of line and colour, creates an intimacy with the reader.