Peter Usborne

Education Usborne was educated at Summer Fields School,

After taking a position at the British Printing Corporation, he started working in children's books when he found out he was going to become a parent. Independent Publisher of the Year at the Independent Publishing Awards in 2014, and Private Business of the Year in 2015.

Usborne specialised in illustrated children's books: according to his Daily Telegraph obituary, most of the company's books were "conceived, written and designed in-house". the World of the Unknown series the Book of the Future, Poppy and Sam's Farmyard Tales,

Personal life Usborne said that parenthood had been the greatest privilege of his life, and that publishing children's books had been an extension of that.

In 2007, the Usborne family founded The Usborne Foundation, a registered charity which harnesses research, design and technology to create playful media addressing issues from literacy to health. Teach Your Monster to Read is a series of games that has helped millions of children learn to read, funded by The Usborne Foundation. His son, Martin, also runs a publishing company, Hoxton Mini Press.

Death

On 30 March 2023, Usborne died "suddenly but peacefully", surrounded by his family. He was 85. Usborne was survived by his wife, Wendy, children Nicola and Martin, and his five grandchildren.

Awards and honours Usborne was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to the publishing industry, and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to literature. He was awarded the London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.