David Ian Roberts (born 8 May 1970) is a British children's illustrator. He has illustrated a large number of books in both black and white and colour. His black and white work mainly features in books for older readers and he has worked with such well-known authors as

Philip Ardagh Philip Ardagh is an English children's author, primarily known for the Eddie Dickens series of books. He has written more than 100 books including adult fiction and children's non-fiction. During 2004 and 2005 Ardagh collaborated with Sir Pa ...

(on the ''Eddie Dickens'' and ''Unlikely Exploits'' series), G.P. Taylor (on the ''Mariah Mundi'' series),

Chris Priestley Chris Priestley (born 1958) is a British children's book author and illustrator. He lives in Cambridge, England. Biography and career Chris Priestley grew up in Wales and Gibraltar, where as a nine-year-old, he won a medal in a local newspap ...

(on the ''Tales of Terror'' series), Mick Jackson (on ''Ten Sorry Tales'' and ''The Bears of England''), Susan Price (on the ''Olly Spellmaker'' series), Jon Blake (on the ''Stinky Finger'' series) and Tom Baker (on ''

The Boy Who Kicked Pigs ''The Boy Who Kicked Pigs'' is a short novel by actor Tom Baker. The novel is subtitled, "A grotesque masterpiece", and is illustrated with line drawings by David Roberts. Plot The novel begins by announcing that today will be the day that a ...

''). ''Mouse Noses on Toast'' by

Daren King Laurence Daren King (born 1972 in Harlow, Essex) is an English novelist and children's writer. His debut novel, ''Boxy an Star'', made the shortlist for the Guardian First Book Award and the ten finalists for the Booker Prize in 1999. He won th ...

won the Nestle Smarties Book Prize (ages 6–8 years) in 2006, after which King and Roberts collaborated on other titles including ''Peter the Penguin Pioneer'', ''Sensible Hare and the Case of Carrots'' and ''The Frightfully Friendly Ghosties'' series. Roberts also creates picture books for younger readers, some in collaboration with other writers. The best known may be those written by the 2011–2013 Children's Laureate, Julia Donaldson (''Tyrannosaurus Drip'', ''The Troll'' and most recently ''Jack and the Flum Flum Tree''). Others include ''Iggy Peck, Architect'' by

Andrea Beaty Andrea Beaty () is an American children's author. Life and career She was born in Benton, Illinois and currently resides in Naperville, Illinois. As a child, she loved ''Nancy Drew Nancy Drew is a Fictional character, fictional character ...

, ''Dear Tabby'' by Carolyn Crimi, ''Mrs Crump's Cat'' by Linda Smith, ''Hopping Mad'' by Michael Catchpool, ''Don't Say That Willy Nilly'' by Anna Powell and ''The Dunderheads'' by

Paul Fleischman Paul Fleischman (born 1952) is an American writer of children's books. He and his father Sid Fleischman have both won the Newbery Medal from the American Library Association recognizing the year's "most distinguished contribution to American lite ...

which was shortlisted for the

Kate Greenaway Medal The Kate Greenaway Medal is a British literary award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) ...

in 2010. The Dirty Bertie character first appeared in two books penned by Roberts himself, ''Dirty Bertie'' in 2002 and ''Pooh! Is That You, Bertie?'' in 2004. Since then he has worked with Alan MacDonald to create a series for older readers with titles such as ''Burp'', ''Fetch'', ''Kiss'' and ''Pants''. His sister Lynn Roberts is also a writer and the siblings have collaborated on several retellings of fairy stories, including ''Rapunzel: A Groovy Fairy Tale'', which was shortlisted for a Blue Peter Book Award, and ''Little Red: A Fizzingly Good Yarn'', which was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal. In his books, he mentions Sam and Lucy Williams, found to be relatives of Roberts. Roberts has also illustrated the series Wings & Co: The Fairy Detective Agency by

Sally Gardner Sally Gardner is a British children writer and illustrator. She won both the Costa Children's Book Award and the Carnegie Medal for ''Maggot Moon'' (Hot Key Books, 2012). Under her pseudonym Wray Delaney she has also written adult novels.

(''Operation Bunny: the fairy detective agency's first case'', ''Three Pickled Herrings'' and ''The Vanishing of Billy Buckle'' as of 2013) and the covers for a reprint of Enid Blyton's St Clare's books. From 2015 Roberts began illustrating "The Bolds" series of books by Julian Clary.

References

The CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Children's Book AwardsBooks for KeepsNestle Book AwardsChildren's Laureate

External links

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''Tyrannosaurus Drip'' by Julia Donaldson
at publisher Macmillan * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, David 1970 births Living people Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Artists from Liverpool British children's book illustrators