BB

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-09-27

'BB' was the pen name of Denys James Watkins-Pitchford (1905-1990), an English naturalist, artist and author. Born in Lamport, Northamptonshire, the son of the rector of Lamport, he was a delicate child educated at home, and the long solitary hours he spent in the fields around the rectory gave him the love of the countryside, of fishing and of wildfowling that runs through all his work. He trained at the Northampton School of Art and the Royal College of Art and taught art at Rugby School for seventeen years before becoming a full-time writer and illustrator. He wrote as BB but illustrated under his own name, in scraperboard and colour, both his own books and those of other authors. The Little Grey Men (1942) won the Carnegie Medal as the year's best children's book by a British subject; its sequel Down the Bright Stream followed in 1948, and Brendon Chase (1944) is his other best-known story for children. He was appointed MBE.

Universe(s)

Books

• The Little Grey Men (1942) · The Little Grey Men Core Canon
• Down the Bright Stream (1948) · The Little Grey Men Core Canon

Aggregate across all universes

• Total Core Canon books across all universes: 2 books
• Award recognitions across all universes: 1 (1 won)

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