Here are some of Picture Book Party's wonderful authors and illustrators…
Michael Rosen
Author of We're Going On A Bear Hunt
Michael
Rosen is one of the most popular authors of stories and poems for children. His
bestselling titles, published by Walker Books, include Little Rabbit Foo Foo,
Michael Rosen’s Sad Book, This Is Our House, Tiny Little Fly,
Dear Mother Goose and its sequel Dear Fairy Godmother. Michael
received the Eleanor Farjeon Award in 1997, and was the Children’s Laureate
from 2007 to 2009. He is a distinguished critic and academic, co-directing an
MA in Children’s Literature at Birkbeck College. Michael lives in London with
his family.
Helen Oxenbury
Illustrator of We're Going On A Bear Hunt
Helen
Oxenbury is among the most popular and critically acclaimed illustrators
of her time. Her numerous books for children include Smarties Book
Prize-winning Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell; We're Going on a Bear
Hunt by Michael Rosen; as well as her classic board books for babies. She
won the Kate Greenaway Medal for Alice in Wonderland. Her most recent
picture book was the critically acclaimed There's Going to Be a Baby,
the first book-publishing collaboration between her and her husband John
Burningham. Helen lives in London.
Mac Barnett
Author of Sam and Dave Dig a Hole and Extra Yarn
Mac
Barnett is the author of several picture books, including the hugely successful
Guess Again, illustrated by Adam Rex. He also penned the Brixton
Brothers series of mysteries; the first Brixton Brothers book, The Case of
the Case of Mistaken Identity, was nominated for the 2010 Edgar Award for
best Juvenile. He is the founder of the Echo Park Time Travel Mart, a
convenience store for time travellers. He lives in Berkeley, California, USA.
Visit his website at www.macbarnett.com.
Jon Klassen
Author and illustrator of This Is Not My Hat. Illustrator of Sam and Dave Dig a Hole and Extra Yarn
Jon
Klassen is the writer and illustrator of the bestselling and
award-winning picture books I Want My Hat Back (9781406338539) and This
Is Not My Hat (9781406343939). He is also the creator of
illustrations for the popular series The Incorrigible Children of Ashton
Place, and served as an illustrator on the animated feature film Coraline.
Originally from Niagara Falls, Canada, he lives in Los Angeles, USA. Visit his
website at www.burstofbeaden.com.
Mary Murphy
Author and illustrator of Say Hello Like This
Mary Murphy is the author-illustrator of Walker picture
books How Kind!, I Kissed the Baby, Utterly Lovely One and
novelty title, A Kiss Like This. She has also created many Walker
Baby board books including Mouse Is Small and companion titles, Quick
Duck and Slow Snail – described by the Irish Independent as
"beautifully designed board books, with colourful artwork and simple,
easy-to-follow stories". Mary lives in Galway, Ireland.
Eric Carle
Author and illustrator of What's Your Favourite Animal?
Eric
Carle is the renowned children's book author and illustrator, most
famous for his picture book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which has
been translated into over 30 languages worldwide. Since The Very Hungry
Caterpillar, Eric Carle has illustrated more than seventy books including Brown
Bear, Brown Bear and What Do You See? and more than 71 million
copies of his books have sold around the world. He is also the founder of The
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, a non-profit organization set up to
inspire a love of art and reading through picture books, to which all of the
royalties from this book will go.
Salvatore Rubbino
Author and illustrator of A Walk In Paris
Salvatore Rubbino is a rising talent in the world of
illustration. His first book for children, A Walk in New York, was
shortlisted for the V&A Illustration Awards, his second, A Walk in
London, won an SLA Information Book Award, and his third, Just Ducks!
(written by Nicola Davies), was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal.
Salvatore teaches on the MA Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of
Art and at Southampton Solent University. He lives in London.
Russell Hoban
Author of How Tom Beat Captain Najork, A Near Thing For Captain Najork and The Rain Door
Russell
Hoban is the author of many famous novels, including Turtle Diary and Riddley
Walker, which won the John W. Campbell Award for science fiction. He also
wrote over 50 children’s books, including such classics as The Mouse and His
Child, The Sea-Thing Child and, most recently, Rosie’s Magic
Horse. Born in Pennsylvania in 1925, he moved in 1969 to London, where he
lived until his death in 2011.
Quentin Blake
Illustrator of How Tom Beat Captain Najork, A Near Thing For Captain Najork and The Rain Door
Quentin
Blake is one of the world’s foremost illustrators, particularly renowned
for his collaboration with writers such as Russell Hoban, Michael Rosen, Joan
Aiken and Roald Dahl. His books have won numerous awards, including the
Whitbread Prize, the Kate Greenaway Medal and the Hans Christian Andersen Award
for Illustration. In 1999 he was appointed the first Children’s Laureate, in
2005 was created a CBE and in 2013 received a knighthood for his services to
illustration. He lives in London.
John Burningham
Author and illustrator of The Way To The Zoo
John Burningham is widely regarded as one of the world’s
finest picture book artists. With over 35 books to his name, he has twice been
awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal, for Borka: The Adventures of a Goose with
No Feathers and Mr Gumpy’s Outing. Among his other celebrated books
is Granpa, for which he was awarded the Kurt Maschler Award, and which
was later made into a successful feature film. He lives in London.
Dallas Clayton
Author and illustrator of A Is For Awesome
Dallas Clayton is the author and illustrator of the critically
acclaimed Awesome Book series, as well as the poetry collection Make
Magic! Do Good! Dallas lives in California, USA. Visit his website at www.dallasclayton.com
Steve Light
Author and illustrator of Have You Seen My Dragon?
Steve Light is the author-illustrator of many books
for children, including The Christmas Giant and Zephyr Takes Flight.
He lives in New York City. Visit his website at www.stevelightart.com
Petr Horacek
Author and illustrator of The Mouse Who Ate The Moon
Petr Horacek’s bold and imaginative illustrations continue
to captivate children and critics. His stories, often about loyalty and
belonging, are told with an instinctive warmth and humour and are beautifully
brought to life through his evocative use of colour and texture. He has won
many awards around the world for classics such as Suzy Goose and A
New House for Mouse and was shortlisted for the prestigious Kate Greenaway
Medal in 2012. He lives in Worcester.
Timothy Basil Ering
Author and illustrator of The Almost Fearless Hamilton Squidlegger
Timothy Basil Ering is the illustrator of the
multiple-award-winning The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo and Snook
Alone by Marilyn Nelson, as well as the acclaimed author-illustrator of The
Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone and Necks Out for Adventure! He lives
in the USA in Kingston, Massachusetts, with his wife and sons.
Mo Willems
Author and illustrator of The Pigeon Needs A Bath and Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs
Mo Willems is a three-time Caldecott Honor winner for Don't
Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale and Knuffle
Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity. His celebrated Elephant &
Piggie early-reader series has been awarded the Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal on
two occasions as well as three Honors. Other favourites include Goldilocks
and the Three Dinosaurs and That Is Not a Good Idea. Before he
turned to children's books, Mo was a writer and animator on Sesame Street,
where he won six Emmy Awards. Mo lives with his family in Paris, France.
Helene Boudreau
Author of I Dare You Not To Yawn
Hélène
Boudreau is a native of Canada and has had several popular books for children
published there. She lives in Markham, Ontario, Canada. Visit her website at
www.heleneboudreau.com or tweet @helenboudreau
Serge Bloch
Illustrator of I Dare You Not To Yawn
Serge
Bloch is one of the most prolific and talented French illustrators working
today. He has won the Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators, the Bologna
Ragazzi award, and the Best Book Award in Taiwan. A native of France, Serge
Bloch now divides his time between New York and Paris, where he is Artistic
Director of the children's publishing house Bayard Jeunesse. Visit his website
at www.sergebloch.net
Jenni Desmond
Author and illustrator of The Zebra Who Ran Too Fast
Jenni Desmond is an illustrator, artist and picture book
author, working from a studio in a rattling railway arch in south London. She
graduated with distinction from the Masters in Children's Book Illustration at
Cambridge School of Art (APU). Her first picture book won the Cambridgeshire 'Read
it Again' Picture Book award 2013. Jenni lives in London.
Herve Tullet
Author and illustrator of Help! We Need A Title!
Hervé Tullet is the creator of over 50 children’s
books. He was born in Normandy, and later studied Fine Arts and Decorative Arts
before working as an Art Director. Hervé Tullet loves to provoke surprise when
he meets children and the magic also works through his much-awaited books; he
was awarded the Sorcières Prize 2010. Hervé lives in Paris.
Lucy Cousins
Author and illustrator of Peck Peck Peck
Lucy Cousins is the multi-award-winning creator of Maisy.
Other titles include the Smarties Book Prize-winner Jazzy in the Jungle,
Hooray for Fish! – which now appears in animation in Japan; the
bestselling New York Times Top 10 Children's Book Yummy; and
the critically acclaimed I'm the Best. Lucy Cousins' books have sold
over 26 million copies worldwide and are available in 29 different languages.
Lucy lives in Petersfield, Hampshire with her partner and four children.
Aaron Becker
Author and illustrator of Quest
Aaron Becker began drawing picture books at the age
of eight. After many years of practice, he published his first wordless picture
book, Journey. He is now on a quest to share his books with as many
young readers as possible. “There is nothing more gratifying than seeing kids
hold one of my books close to their heart,” he says. “My hope is that these
stories might inspire us all to place a bit more faith in the power of wonder.”
Aaron Becker lives in the USA in Amherst, Massachusetts, with his wife and
daughter.
Birgitta Sif
Author and illustrator of Frances Dean Who Loved to Dance and Dance
Birgitta Sif was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, and lived in
and around Scandanavia and America while growing up. She completed her BFA from
Cornell University and worked as a graphic designer in New York before
deciding to enrol on Anglia Ruskin’s world-renowned Children’s Book
Illustration MA course in Cambridge. Her debut picture book, Oliver, won
the Icelandic Dimmalimm Prize and was endorsed by Amnesty. Birgitta lives with
her family in Sweden.
Viviane Schwarz
Author and illustrator of Is There A Dog In This Book?
Viviane Schwarz is the author-illustrator of the highly
acclaimed picture books There Are Cats in this Book and There Are No
Cats in this Book, both of which were shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway
Medal (2009, 2012). She also illustrates picture books by her friend Alexis
Deacon and their title A Place to Call Home was shortlisted for the
Roald Dahl Funny prize in 2011. Viviane was named one of the Booktrust's Best
New Illustrators 2011. She lives in London.
Shirley Hughes
Author and illustrator of Daisy Saves the Day
Shirley Hughes has won many prestigious awards, including
the Kate Greenaway Medal twice. She began to write and design her own picture
books when she had a young family and has now published more than two hundred
titles. Shirley also wrote her first novel, Hero on a Bicycle in 2012.
She lives in London.
Nicola Davies
Author of The Promise
Nicola
Davies is an award-winning
author, whose many books for children include A First Book of Nature, Ice
Bear, Big Blue Whale, Dolphin Baby, Bat Loves the Night
and the Silver Street Farm series. She graduated in zoology, studied whales and
bats and then worked for the BBC Natural History Unit. Nicola lives in
Abergavenny, Wales. Visit Nicola as www.nicola-davies.com.
Laura Carlin
Illustrator of The Promise
Laura
Carlin is a graduate of the
Royal College of Art and the winner of several awards, including the V&A
Book Illustration Award. Her work has featured in Vogue, the Guardian
and The New York Times, and she also illustrated The Iron Man by
Ted Hughes, which was awarded an honourable mention in the Bologna Ragazzi
Award fiction category. Laura lives in London. See Laura's work at lauracarlin.blogspot.co.uk.
Kate Hindley
Illustrator of Worst In Show
Kate
Hindley lives and works in
Worcestershire (home of the sauce). She studied illustration at Falmouth
College of Art, and went on to work for two years as a children’s print designer
at a studio in Northampton, whilst working freelance on children’s books and
greetings cards. She has exhibited with her Girls Who Draw and Inkygoodness
across the UK, and had a jolly good time painting up a totem pole for the
Pictoplasma Character Walk exhibition 2011. Worst in Show is Kate's
first picture book for Walker Books.
Anthony Browne
Author and illustrator of Willy the Wimp and Willy's Stories
Anthony Browne is one of the most celebrated
author–illustrators working today. Children’s Laureate from 2009 to 2011 and
winner of multiple awards – including the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal and
the much-coveted Hans Christian Andersen Award – Anthony is renowned for his
unique style. His work is loved and admired all around the world. Anthony lives
in Canterbury, Kent.
Inga Moore
Author and illustrator of Captain Cat
Inga Moore has illustrated numerous classics to much
critical acclaim, including Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, The
Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and Oscar Wilde’s The
Canterville Ghost. Published almost twenty years ago, her title Six
Dinner Sid continues to grace bookshop shelves and won the Smarties Book
Prize. Her most recent picture book, A House in the Woods, was descibed
by Nicolette Jones as “the most beautiful picture book, and it makes you fall
in love with Autumn". Inga lives in Stroud, Gloucestershire.
Taro Miura
Author and illustrator of The Tiny King and The Big Princess
Taro
Miura is an award-winning
author/illustrator and graphic designer. Born in Aichi, Japan, in 1968, Taro
specialized in silkscreen printing at Osaka University of Arts. He was first
selected to exhibit his work in the Bologna Children’s Book Fair Illustrators
Exhibition fiction category in 2001, and has since exhibited his work in the
Fiction and Non-Fiction categories several times. Taro works internationally
and he is regularly published in Japan, France, Switzerland and Italy. This is
his first book with Walker. Taro lives in Japan.
Katie May Green
Author and illustrator of Seen and Not Heard
Katie May Green is a graduate from the Cambridge School of
Art MA in Children's Book Illustration. She has created artwork for UK and US
publishers including HarperCollins, Penguin and Oxford University Press. Seen
and Not Heard is Katie's first picture book. Katie lives in Somerset. Visit
Katie's website at www.katiemaygreen.co.uk
Valentina Mendicino
Author and illustrator of The Really Abominable Snowman
Valentina Mendicino studied illustration and animation at
the European Institute of Design in Milan. Since 2005, she has been a freelance
illustrator, working in Milan for several advertising agencies. She decided to
leave Italy and move to England where she obtained an MA in children’s book
illustration from the Cambridge School of Art. This experience changed her life
and she discovered a whole new dimension in the art world, leading her to her
first published book. She now works and lives in London. Visit her at http://chigaia.blogspot.co.uk
Simon James
Author and illustrator of Nurse Clementine
Simon James, author and illustrator of Nurse Clementine, grew up in Bristol and Exeter and from an early age spent much of his time drawing and stapling stories into little books. Leon and Bob won the Smarties Book Prize Silver Award and was the New York Times' Best Illustrated Book of the Year, and Days Like This, a collection of small poems, was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Baby Brains was the overall winner of the Red House Children's Book Award in 2005, voted for by 25,000 children, and Simon followed up this success with two more Baby Brains titles, Baby Brains Superstar and Baby Brains and RoboMum. Simon continues to be a much sought-after speaker in schools, and at festivals and conferences both in the UK and in the USA.Bruce Ingman
Illustrator of Hooray For Bread
After teaching in several colleges of art and illustrating for magazines such as Vogue, Bruce's first book, When Martha's Away, was published in 1995 to huge critical acclaim. Not only was the book honoured with the National Art Library Award, but Bruce was presented with the prestigious Mother Goose Award as the most exciting British newcomer to children's picture books. Since then, he has written and illustrated several more children's books, including Bad News! I'm in Charge!, a sly look at every kid's wildest dream come true, and has illustrated four stunningly original picture books written by Allan Ahlberg: The Runaway Dinner, Previously and The Pencil. Bruce lives in London, UK.Allan Ahlberg
Author of Hooray For Bread
Allan always dreamed of being a writer, but tried his hand at many other jobs before he achieved his ambition. He was a postman, grave-digger, plumber’s mate and teacher – it was teaching that gave him such sharp insights into the minds of children, and enabled him to write his perfectly observed poetry about primary school life. Allan has collaborated with many illustrators, including Bruce Ingman, his late wife Janet Ahlberg (née Hall) and his daughter Jessica Ahlberg. He has won numerous awards for his books including The Kurt Maschler Award in 1986, The Children’s Book Award in 1987, The Blue Peter Book Award 2001, and The Children’s Book Award: Books for Young Children award 2002.
Phyllis Root
Author of Sam Who Went to Sea
Phyllis Root grew up in Indiana and southern Illinois. She decided to be a writer in the fifth grade, but it wasn’t until she was thirty that she took a writing course with an influential teacher who gave her “the tools” she says she needed. “That’s when I figured out that you could learn to be a writer,” she says. When she’s not writing, Phyllis teaches at Vermont College’s MFA in Writing for Children programme. She lives with her two daughters and two cats in a 100-year-old house in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and loves to read or spend time outdoors gardening, camping, sailing or travelling. Sheena Dempsey
Author and illustrator of Bye-Bye Baby Brother!
Sheena Dempsey was born in Cork and studied fine art in Dublin before moving to London in 2009. She graduated from Kingston University with an MA in illustration in 2010. Bye-Bye Baby Brother! is her first picture book. She lives in London.Chris Haughton
Author and illustrator of Oh No, George!
Chris
Haughton, author–illustrator of Oh No, George! is a freelance
illustrator and designer from Dublin. His début picture book A Bit Lost
won Gold in the Children’s Book category at the Association of
Illustrators annual awards and was winner of the 2011 Eilis Dillon award
and Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Award. In 2007 he was named as
one of TIME magazine’s Design 100 list for the work he does for Fair
Trade and People Tree. He has also won the 2011 Marion Vannett Ridgway
Award, Dutch Picture Book of the Year, and was named one of the
Booktrust's 10 Best New Illustrators. Oh No, George has been shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2013, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2013, and the Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2012. He lives in London. Axel Scheffler
Illustrator of Sam Who Went to Sea
Born in Hamburg, Germany, Axel Scheffler won his first drawing prize at the age of eight – his prize was a cuddly lilac cow. In 1982, he came to England and studied at the Bath Academy of Art. Axel Scheffler is an illustrator of worldwide acclaim, most well-known for his picture book partnership with Julia Donaldson. He illustrated The Gruffalo, which won the Smarties Gold Award for Picture Books in 1999 and was the Best Book to Read Aloud at the first Blue Peter Awards in November 2000. He also illustrated The Gruffalo's Child, which was the WHSmith Children's Book of the Year in the British Book Awards 2005. Axel now lives in London.
Polly
Dunbar studied illustration at Brighton Art School and now lives and works in
London. Author and illustrator of Penguin, Dog Blue and Flyaway
Katie. Polly is the daughter of the distinguished author Joyce Dunbar who
she collaborated with on the picture book Shoe Baby. She is also the
illustrator of My Dad's a Birdman, written by David Almond, and Here's
a Little Poem, an anthology of poems for very young children.
William Bee
Author and illustrator of And the Cars Go...
William
Bee was born in London, but now lives in the English countryside. As well as
writing children's books, he races a vintage sports car, is an international
skier, and when at home tends his lawns and meadow. William Bee loves
Saturdays, the colour green, tabby cats, the Queen, Rolls Royces, fruit scones,
David Niven, staying at home...
Polly Dunbar
Author and illustrator of Arthur's Dream Boat
Polly
Dunbar studied illustration at Brighton Art School and now lives and works in
London. Author and illustrator of Penguin, Dog Blue and Flyaway
Katie. Polly is the daughter of the distinguished author Joyce Dunbar who
she collaborated with on the picture book Shoe Baby. She is also the
illustrator of My Dad's a Birdman, written by David Almond, and Here's
a Little Poem, an anthology of poems for very young children.Bob Graham
Author and illustrator of A Bus Called Heaven
Australia’s
leading picture-book-maker and winner of the Smarties Prize Gold Award and the
Kate Greenaway Medal. Since Bob Graham likes his stories to be quiet and
focused on small, seemingly insignificant events of family life, imagine his
surprise when the inspiration for MAX, the award-winning story of a superhero
boy and his family, flew onto his desk. Bob Graham returns full force to the
realm of animals with TALES FROM THE WATERHOLE, a series of five whimsical
stories about a mischievous gang that love to mess around down by a waterhole
on the African plains. He continues to create stories for children, ordinary
and extraordinary, around the world.
Fiona Ross
Author and illustrator of Ballet Cat
Fiona
Ross, author and illustrator of the book Chilly
Milly Moo, returns with her brand new book Ballet Cat, about a special cat Arthur and the Crazy Cat Crew. She
studied illustration at Harrow College of Art, and then to the Royal College of
Art to specialize in design for film and television. She describes the process
of creating a book, as thoroughly enjoyable. She loves drawing, painting and
mapping out ideas with her old drawing board, and drinks large cups of tea to
fuel her inspiration.
Charlotte Voake
Author and illustrator of Ginger and the Mystery Visitor
Born
and raised in Wales, Charlotte says that book illustration is “the only thing I
ever wanted to do”. Among Charlotte's most acclaimed picture books are Ginger,
and its prequel, Ginger Finds a Home. Charlotte was personally selected by the
nephew of the esteemed children’s book writer Eleanor Farjeon to illustrate the
delightful classic, Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep. More recently, Charlotte
has written and illustrated Tweedle Dee Dee; Hello Twins, winner of the British
Book Design and Production Award; and Pizza Kittens, a dinnertime comedy of
errors that she says stems from personal experience.
Atinuke
Author of Splash! Anna Hibiscus
Atinuke
was born in Ibadan, south-west Nigeria. At an early age she was told that to be
An Author was impossible – and she believed it. After leaving a sterile
academic environment behind, she became an Adventurer – another impossibility,
she was told –, and travelled in England, France, Morocco, Germany and Spain.
She was telling stories for a living, until one winter in Wales where “I found
myself in the circumstances in which I write best (alone and bored and empty)
and I wrote about what I was missing… I wrote Anna Hibiscus.”
Lauren Tobia
Illustrator of Splash! Anna Hibiscus
Lauren
Tobia was born in Bristol. She was working as an intensive care nurse in
Bristol for many years, until her children were all grown up and she decided to
follow her dream. She went to the University of West England where she studied
illustration. The illustrator lives in a tiny house in south Bristol with her
husband and their two unruly Jack Russell rescue dogs. She draws all the time
and never goes anywhere without her sketchbook.
