New Zealand Writers
BISHOP, Gavin
His distinctive ink and watercolour illustrations appear with his original text and alongside traditional stories.
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).
The House That Jack Built (1999) was Book of The Year in the 2000 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards. 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 Glenn Medal (illustrations only) for The Year of the Yelvertons (1981); Grand Priz winner of the NOMA CONCOURS, Japan 1984 for Mr Fox (1982); New Zealand Picture Book of the Year for Hinepau (1993); 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 Sheep's 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.
Updated Information
Stay Awake, Bear! (2000) was shortlisted in the Picture Book Category of the 2001 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards.
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 Maori myths and legends which range from creation, to Maui, to Kupe's arrival in Aotearoa.
Weaving Earth & Sky won the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards 2003. Weaving Earth And Sky was also the winner of the Non Fiction Category. 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.
The Three Billy-Goats Gruff (2003). Gavin Bishop introduces 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 Maori Myths (Random House, 2004). Gavin Bishop retells four essential Maori myths through both 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 Maori Myths was a finalist in the Picture Book Category of the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2005. It was also a finalist for The Russell Clark Award at the LIANZA Children's Book Awards 2005.
Gavin Bishop illustrated Jean Prior's The Waka (Scholastic, 2005).
The Waka and Te Waka by Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira and Jean Prior, illustrated by Gavin Bishop (Scholastic New Zealand, 2005), were selected as joint finalists in the Picture Book category of the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2006.
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 children's 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's not 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 kiwi's habitat is razed to the ground. The story contains themes of intertribal warfare, European colonisation of New Zealand, Māori /Pakeha relations, and conservation.
Riding the Waves (Random House, 2006) is Bishop's most recent children's picture book. Riding the Waves is also available in Maori as Whakaeke I Nga Ngaru (Random House).
Rats (Random House, 2007) was nominated in the picture book section of the 2008 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Rats was further nominated for and won the Russell Clark Award for Illustration at the 2008 LIANZA Book Awards.
Bishop also illustrated Snake & Lizard (Gecko Press, 2007), written by Joy Cowley. This won the Junior Fiction section and Book of The Year for the 2008 New Zealand Post Awards.
KIDS AUTHORS PICTURES AND INFORMATION
Children’s Questions for Gavin Bishop
Where do you live?
Christchurch, New Zealand
What kind of books do you like to read?
I read mainly fiction. Adult and children's fiction.
What are reading now?
At the moment I'm just re-reading Lord of the Rings.
Who is your favourite author?
Margaret Mahy
How do you think up your ideas?
This is a very hard question to answer. I suppose most of my ideas come from things that I do books that I read and movies that I watch. But once you have an idea that might make a good book you then have to think of a story to fit the idea into.
What is the best thing about being an author?
Not having to get up early in the morning. Staying at home and not brushing my hair.
Special Questions for Primary School
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 for Secondary School
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 wasn't 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 children's 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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