David Elliot is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

and author, known internationally for his contributions to the '' Redwall'' fantasy series by British author,

Brian Jacques James Brian Jacques (, as in "Jakes"; 15 June 1939 – 5 February 2011), known professionally as Brian Jacques, was an English author known for his ''Redwall'' series of children's fantasy novels and ''Castaways of the Flying Dutchman'' series. ...

Biography

Elliot was born in 1952 in

Ashburton, New Zealand Ashburton () is a large town in the Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury Region, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The town is the seat of the Ashburton District. It is south west of Christchurch and is sometimes regarded as ...

. He has a fine arts diploma in

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

, from the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

, in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, and is also a qualified school teacher. He lives in

Port Chalmers Port Chalmers () is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The or ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

Publications

Elliot illustrated six '' Redwall'' books, as well as the Mossflower Anniversary Edition (with full-page illustrations), all written by UK author Brian Jacques. He also illustrated the second and third volumes of Jacques' '' Castaways of the Flying Dutchman'' series and American author, T. A. Barron's ''Great Tree of Avalon'' series, beginning with '' Child of the Dark Prophecy''. Other international collaborations include providing illustrations for ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine editor

Jeffrey Kluger Jeffrey Kluger (born 1954) is an American editor at large at Time (magazine), ''Time'' magazine and author of thirteen books on various topics, such as ''The Narcissist Next Door'' (2014); ''Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk and the Conquest of Polio' ...

's first book for children, ''Nacky Patcher and the Curse of the Dry-Land Boats '' (2007), three books in the '' Ranger's Apprentice'' series, by John Flanagan (2011, 2014) and two books in the ''Nethergrim'' series, by Matthew Jobin (2014, 2017). Elliot also provided the map and interior illustration for Jonathan W. Stokes' book, ''Addison Cooke and the Treasure of the Incas'' (2016). Elliot has written and illustrated eight picture books of his own, including ''Henry's Map'' which was chosen by the School Library Journal for its Best Books in 2013 and ''Pigtails the Pirate'' which won the Picturebook category of the

New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are a series of literary awards presented annually to recognise excellence in children's and young adult's literature in New Zealand. The awards were founded in 1982, and have had severa ...

in 2003. Other New Zealand publications include illustrations for

Janet Frame Janet Paterson Frame (28 August 1924 – 29 January 2004) was a New Zealand author. She is internationally renowned for her work, which includes novels, short stories, poetry, juvenile fiction, and an autobiography, and received numerous award ...

's only book for children, ''Mona Minim and the Smell of the Sun'' and also ''The Smell of Powder'', a book on New Zealand

dueling A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in t ...

, by Dr. Donald Kerr, both published in 2006. Elliot has also illustrated for Joy Cowley, Jack Lasenby and other New Zealand writers, poets and short story writers. As a great admirer of

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

Elliot also produced illustrations for '' The Hunting of the Snark'' (Private Press edition, with the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

, 2006). Elliot has also collaborated on two books with New Zealand's best loved children's writer and winner of the

Hans Christian Andersen Award The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...

, Margaret Mahy, ''The Word Witch'' and ''The Moon and Farmer McPhee'', which won the award for the best children's book in the

in 2011. More recently, Elliot wrote and illustrated ''Snark: being a true history of the expedition that discovered the Snark and the Jabberwock…and its tragic aftermath'' (after Lewis Carroll), published by Otago University Press (2016). The book won Best Book and Best Illustrations in the

New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are a series of literary awards presented annually to recognise excellence in children's and young adult's literature in New Zealand. The awards were founded in 1982, and have had severa ...

in 2017. and also a White Raven Award. His latest picture book is ''Oink'' ( Gecko Press, 2018) and in 2019 he illustrated Tessa Duder's ''First Map: How James Cook Chartered Aotearoa New Zealand''.

Recent activities and awards

* 2011 Winner of the New Zealand Post Book Awards - Best Children's Book (together with Margaret Mahy) for ''The Moon and Farmer McPhee'' * 2011 Inaugural Mallinson Rendel Award, to be awarded to New Zealand children's book illustrators every other year * 2012 IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Honour List 2012 for ''The Moon and Farmer McPhee'' * 2013

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

(USA) Best Books List for ''Henry's Map'' * 2014 IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Honour List for ''The Word Witch'' * 2014 Storylines

Margaret Mahy Award The Margaret Mahy Award, officially the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award, is a New Zealand literary prize presented to a person who has made a significant contribution to children's literature, publishing or literacy. Presented an ...

. Award given annually for lifetime achievement in children's writing and illustration * 2017 Winner of White Raven Award for ''Snark'' * 2017 Winner of the

- Margaret Mahy Book of the Year for ''Snark'' * 2017 Winner of the

- Russell Clark Award for Illustration for ''Snark''

References

External links

*
Arts Foundations of New Zealand WebsiteNew Zealand Book Council Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliot, David 1952 births Living people University of Canterbury alumni New Zealand artists People from Port Chalmers People from Ashburton, New Zealand New Zealand writers