Bishop, Gavin

IN BRIEF

Children’s book author and illustrator Gavin Bishop has won numerous national and international awards for his distinctive ink and watercolour illustrations and his original text. Bishop's illustrations have been exhibited at international shows from Japan to Czechoslovakia, and he has appeared as a teacher and guest speaker at many international forums. He has been commissioned to write and design several successful ballets for the Royal NZ Ballet Company and was awarded the prestigious Margaret Mahy Award in 2008. Piano Rock, published in 2008, serves as Bishop's early autobiography, full of tales and illustrations of his childhood years in the railway town of Kingston. The Storylines Gavin Bishop Award was established in 2009 in recognition of his contribution to children's literature.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bishop, Gavin (1946 - ) is a children's book author and illustrator who has won numerous national and international awards. His distinctive ink and watercolour illustrations appear with his original text in books like The Horror of Hickory Bay (1984) and Little Rabbit and the Sea (1997) and alongside traditional stories in his re-telling of The Three Little Pigs (1989) or Maui and the Sun (1996).

Bishop picked up the 1982 Russell Clark Award for his illustrations in Mrs. McGinty and the Bizarre Plant.

The House That Jack Built (1999) won Book of The Year and Best Picture Book at the 2000 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Combining the words of the traditional nursery rhyme with pictures illustrating the colonisation of New Zealand, the book is praised by critics and judges for the way in which 'image and narrative counterpoint each other and invite reader/viewers to further explore the complexity of visual storytelling.' (John L. McKenzie, Magpies).

Other awards include the Russell Clark Medal for illustration for Mrs McGinty and the Bizarre Plant (1981); the Esther Glen Medal (illustrations only) for The Year of the Yelvertons (1981); Grand Prize winner of the NOMA CONCOURS, Japan 1984 for Mr Fox (1982); New Zealand Picture Book of the Year for Hinepau (1993); and Children's Literature Foundation of New Zealand Margaret Mahy Lecture Award 2000. Gavin Bishop has been shortlisted as an author and illustrator for New Zealand's premier book awards on many occasions.

Bishop's illustrations have been exhibited at international shows from Japan to Czechoslovakia, and he has appeared as a teacher and guest speaker at many international forums. Illustrations from his Little Rabbit books have appeared on greeting cards and posters, and in 1985 he was commissioned to write and design a ballet for the Royal NZ Ballet Company: the result was Terrible Tom which toured the country for 18 months. Another ballet, Te Maia and the Sea Devil followed in 1987.

Other titles by Gavin Bishop are Bidibidi (1982); Chicken Licken (1984); The Hungry Fox (1985); Mother Hubbard (1986); A Apple Pie (1987); Katarina (1990); The Lion and the Jackal (illustrations only, text by Beverley Dietz, 1991); Little Red Rocking Hood (1992); Good Luck Elephant (1996); Jump Into Bed (1996); Cabbage Caterpillar (1996); The Wedding of Mistress Fox (1996); The Secret Lives of Mr and Mrs Smith (1997); Maui and the Goddess of Fire (1998); Woodchuck's New Helper (1999); The Wolf in Sheeps Clothing (1999); The Big Race (1999); The Lost Sock (1999); Video Shop Sparrow (illustrations only, text by Joy Cowley, 1999); Stay Awake, Bear! (2000), Pip the Penguin (illustrations only, text by Joy Cowley, 2001); Tom Thumb (2001) which was shortlisted in the Picture Book category for the 2002 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards.

Bidibidi was published in 2002, and Stay Awake, Bear! (2000) was shortlisted in the Picture Book Category of the 2001 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. The Ursula Bethell Residency for 2003 was awarded to both Catherine Chidgey and Gavin Bishop.

Weaving Earth & Sky: Myths and Legends of Aotearoa by Robert Sullivan, with illustrations by Gavin Bishop, retells classic Mâori myths and legends which range from creation, to Maui, and to Kupe's arrival in Aotearoa. Weaving Earth & Sky won Book of the Year and Best in Non-Fiction at the 2003 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. It was shortlisted for the 2003 LIANZA Elsie Locke Medal.

Bishop was an international judge for the 2003 NOMA CONCOURS competition for Children's Picture Book Illustration. The competition is organised by UNESCO and Kodansha Press in Tokyo and held every two years. Also in 2003, Bishop was the Waikato University Writer-in-Residence.

In The Three Billy-Goats Gruff (2003), he introduced an old favourite in a fun and exciting way.

The Little Tractor (2004), written by Joy Cowley and illustrated by Gavin Bishop, is a book for 3 to 6 year olds. The little tractor starts its working life on a farm where it does a good job - but the family grows up and things change and the tractor is retired to sit in the local car yard. One interesing character after another buys the tractor, until the son of the first farmer buys it for his new farm.

Taming The Sun: Four Mâori Myths was published by Random House in 2004. Bishop retells four essential Mâori myths through story and illustration. These vivid and exciting myths are; Maui and the sun, Kahu and the taniwha, Maui and the big fish and Rona and the moon. Taming The Sun: Four Mâori Myths was a finalist in the picture book category at the 2005 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children & Young Adults. It was also a finalist for the Russell Clark Award at the 2005 LIANZA Children's Book Awards.

Gavin Bishop illustrated Jean Prior's The Waka, published by Scholastic in 2005. The Waka and Te Waka by Kâterina Te Heikâkâ Mataira and Jean Prior, illustrated by Gavin Bishop (Scholastic New Zealand, 2005), were selected as joint finalists in the Picture Book category of the 2006 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

Kiwi Moon (2006) was published by Random House Publishing and won the The Russell Clark Award. The Russell Clark Award was first presented in 1975 and rewards the most distinguished pictures or illustrations for a childrens book. 'Kiwi Moon has all the appeal and promise of a future folktale classic', said the judging panel. 'It is an outstanding example of how text and illustrations can be interwoven to produce a marvellous whole.' Kiwi Moon is the story of a little white kiwi. When he is born his mother doesn't recognise him because he isn't brown. Little Kiwi looks to the moon as his mother instead because it is white and bright and round. In the background of this story, we see the changing times of a nearby pa. Through illustrations only we see intertribal warfare, the death of the chief, English soldiers arriving and then the burning of the pa. This fire spreads and the two stories become one as the white kiwis habitat is razed to the ground. The story contains themes of intertribal warfare, European colonisation of New Zealand, Mâori /Pakeha relations, and conservation.

Riding the Waves (Random House, 2006) is another of Bishop's picture books. Riding the Waves is also available in Mâori as Whakaeke I Nga Ngaru (Random House).

Rats! (Random House, 2007) was nominated in the pictuer book category at the 2008 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Rats! also received the Russell Clark Award for Illustration at the 2008 LIANZA Book Awards.

Bishop's illustrations also featured in Snake & Lizard by Joy Cowley, published by Gecko Press in 2007. Snake & Lizard won Best in Junior Fiction and Book of the Year at the 2008 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

Piano Rock (Random House, 2008) serves as Bishop's early autobiography, full of tales and illustrations of his years as a child in the railway town of Kingston. Piano Rock won the 2009 PANZ Book Design Award in the children's category.

Bishop's latest work, Counting the Stars: Four Maori Myths (sequel to Taming the Sun: Four Maori Myths) was published by Random House in 2009.

The Storylines Gavin Bishop Award was established in 2009.  It aims to encourage the publication of new and exciting high-quality picture books from New Zealand illustrators. It also recognises the contribution Gavin Bishop has made to the writing and illustrating of children’s picture books and gives an emerging talent the opportunity to benefit from his expertise.

Fourteen of Bishop's works have been listed as Storylines Notable Books, including four in 2010: Tom Thumb (2002), The Three Billy Goats Gruff (2004), Taming the Sun: Four Maori Myths (2005), Kiwi Moon (2006), The Waka (2006), Te Waka (2006), Riding the Waves: Four Maori Myths (2007), Snake & Lizard (2008), Rats! (2008), Piano Rock: A 1950s Childhood (2009), There Was a Crooked Man (2010), Cowshed Christmas (2010), Friends: Snake & Lizard (2010), and Counting the Stars: Four Maori Myths (2010).

Cowshed Christmas, written by Joy Cowley and illustrated by Gavin Bishop, was a finalist in the picture book category of the 2010 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Friends: Snake & Lizard, also by Joy Cowley, was a finalist in the junior fiction category. It was the Children's Choice Junior Fiction Category Winner.

A new edition of The House that Jack Built - Koinei te Whare na Haki i Hanga - and the first Te Reo Maori edition, was published by Gecko Press in 2012.

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writers in schools information

Gavin Bishop is available to speak to children aged 5-18 about picture book writing, illustrating, non-fiction writing, and being a screenwriter and playwright, as part of the Book Council's Writers in Schools programme. He would prefer to speak to 30 students per session, and is able to participate in tours outside of his region. Please continue down the page to see Gavin's answers to a list of questions provided by school students:

KAPAI: Kids' Authors' Pictures and Information

Do you have any pets?
Five goldfish. They live in a pond in the garden. We had more but the local cats ate them.

What is your favourite colour?
Indigo

Do you have a favourite food?
Macaroni cheese

A favourite movie?
Fargo

Do you have a favourite game?
Mah Jong

What were your favourite books when you were growing up?
My favourite book was The Hobbit.

What is the best thing about being an author?
Getting letters from children who have enjoyed reading my books.

How do you make your books?
I always begin by writing the story. Next I design the book by making a ‘story board’. The new DESIGN booklet that has been sent to all schools as part of the new Art Syllabus will show you what this is. Next I make a ‘dummy’ and put the words and pictures into it. A dummy is a blank book that is the same size that the final book is going to be and it has the same number of pages.

Where do you like to go on holiday?
I go to lots of different places. Nelson is one of my favourite places for a holiday. But sometimes I go overseas.

What was the naughtiest thing you ever did at school?
I was a goodie goodie at school. But I can remember putting lots of stones in an old lady's letterbox one day on the way home from school.

Questions from Secondary School Students
How did you get started as a writer?
I have always been interested in children's pictures books and in 1978 when someone suggested that I write and illustrate one, I did. But it wasnt easy. I made lots of mistakes and I needed a lot of help from the editors at Oxford University Press once the book was accepted.

Did anyone inspired you when you were getting started?
I worked on my first books with Wendy Harrex who was the childrens editor at OUP. She helped me a great deal and I was grateful for her patience and advice.

What advice would you give an aspiring young New Zealand writer or illustrator?
Read lots of books, watch lots of movies and work hard at doing your own thing — don't be too easily satisfied.

Is it hard to make a living writing in New Zealand?
Yes. The population here is very small and the number of books that you can sell is limited.

What were you like as a teenager?
Fairly quiet and a bit shy.

Are there any stories you’d like to tell us?
When I was two, I ran away from home. In a nearby park there was an aviary with a motley collection of birds. My mother used to take me there in my pushchair because I thought these birds were the most fascinating things that I had ever seen. One day I decided to go and see them on my own.
But before I got very far, I was found and returned home by a neighbour on his bike. My grandmother, who was living with us the time, took me on her knee and said, ‘Now Gavin, there is a beast at the dairy around the corner and if you run away again, he will catch you and eat you up!’
‘Well,’ I thought, ‘Silly old Grandma, what does she know.’ Next morning my mother took me out for a walk to buy some milk. As we arrived at the dairy, I saw a big bulldog by the door. Suddenly I knew that my Grandmother was right. There was a beast. And it was waiting for me. After that day I have never run away from home again.

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Media links and clips

• Gavin Bishop is available for school visits as part of the Book Council's Writers in Schools programme.
• You can visit Gavin Bishop's website at www.gavinbishop.com
• The Three Billy-Goats Gruff features in the 2003 Spring Issue of BRAT: Books for Readers and Teachers.

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