Someone has been shaping the imagination of children with his designs for decades. Few parents would not have read their children a bedtime story brought to life by Robert Ingpen. His many works are published in dozens of languages around the world. And now he's celebrating a new exhibition, another book, and another birthday.

Robert Ingpen is spending his 80th birthday in the most familiar of places.

His home studio is the portal to a world of imagination.

"Dreaming, dreaming is my favourite area, so you can compose of mix of what is real and what is not real and wrap it like a parcel," said Robert Ingpen.

Over six decades, he has produced a library of work, and has lost count of the number of books he has written and or illustrated.

"Something over 100 and something less than 200. Nobody seems to know. The favourite book and set of illustrations is probably 'Wind in the Willows'. Beautiful writing and the opportunity to make pictures that try to celebrate those words," said Robert Ingpen.

Angela Ingpen has been married to Robert for 58 years. Their daughter Katrina is cataloguing more than 7,000 illustrations on a computer database.

"I like the way he has done the animals with human qualities. This is Ratty here and the person he used, an inspiration for, was Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones," said Angela Ingpen.

"He works on illustrating nearly every day and there's been so many amazing projects that we've seen dad work on," said Katrina.

The release of Robet Ingpen's latest book 'Wonderlands' coincides with the exhibition in his hometown of Geelong in Victoria, Australia.

The exhibition which runs until the end of October showcases some of Ingpen's finest work including illustrations from 'A Christmas Carol' and 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'.

"I've known about Robert since I was illustrating books myself and he's like a beacon, like an icon, a benchmark Australia Wide, internationally in fact," said Metropolis Gallery director Robert Avitabile.

Still working every day and no need for glasses. A lifetime's achievement worth celebrating.