Gregory John Rogers (19 June 1957 – 1 May 2013) was an illustrator and writer of children's books, especially picture books. He was the first Australian to win the annual

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) ...

from the

Library Association The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, since 2017 branded CILIP: The library and information association (pronounced ), is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge management, knowle ...

, recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a

British subject The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...

. The book was ''Way Home'' by the Australian writer Libby Hathorn, published in the U.K. by Andersen Press in 1994. In the unnamed city, a boy makes his way home at night and adopts a stray cat en route. The "picture book for older readers" was controversial on grounds both that it was "hardboiled" and that it "romanticised the plight of the homeless"."Libby Hathorn"
AUSTLIT (austlit.edu.au). Retrieved 2015-03-16.

Life and career

Rogers was born on 19 June 1957, in Brisbane to Marie Bohlscheid and Rex Rogers and grew up in Coorparoo. He studied at the Queensland College of Art (fine art) and worked as a

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

er before taking up freelance illustration in 1987. Rogers has illustrated many books including Margaret Card's ''Aunty Mary's Dead Goat'', Ian Trevaskis's ''The Postman Race'',

Gary Crew Gary David Crew (born 23 September 1947) is an Australian writer of young adult fiction. Awards Crew has won the Australian Children's Book of the Year on four occasions. Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers * 1991 '' Strange ...

's ''Tracks'' and ''Lucy's Bay'', Libby Hathorn's ''Way Home'', and Nigel Gray's ''Running Away From Home''. Beside the Greenaway Medal, ''Way Home'' also won a Parents' Choice Award in the U.S. and was shortlisted for the APBA book design awards. Nevertheless, his most widely held work in WorldCat participating libraries is the first book he both wrote and illustrated, ''The Boy, the Bear, the Baron, and the Bard''. The picture book was published by

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

of Australia in 2004 and by Roaring Brook Press that same year in the U.S."Formats and Editions of The boy, the bear, the baron, the bard"
WorldCat. Retrieved 2012-08-30. It features a timeslip to Shakespeare's London by a boy who follows a soccer ball from Shakespeare's Globe, the modern reconstruction, to the original

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...

. With ''Midsummer Knight'' (2006) and ''The Hero of Little Street'' (2009) it constitutes a "wordless picture book series" that '' Publishers Weekly'' calls his work best known in the U.S. Rogers played several musical instruments—the cornetto, recorder, and the baroque guitar—performing music of the 16th and 17th centuries. He collected "CDs, antiques, books, and anything that might attract dust". He was also an avid collector of Art Deco items. Rogers died 1 May 2013 in Brisbane from

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...

Books

Solo works

According to ''Publishers Weekly'', Rogers was "best known in he U.S.for his sequence of three wordless picture books". * ''The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard'' ( Crows Nest, New South Wales:

, 2004) * ''Midsummer Knight'' (2006) * ''The Hero of Little Street'' (2009) * ''Omar the Strongman'', text and illustrations (Scholastic Press, 2013),

As illustrator

* ''Enter Bob Dickinson'' (1988) by Kay Arthur * ''Grandma's Memories'' (1989) by Virginia King * ''Zoe At The Fancy Dress Ball'' (1990) by Susan Reid * ''Lucy Meets A Dragon'' (1990) by Susan Reid * ''Aunty Mary's Dead Goat'' (1990) by Margaret Card * ''The Postman's Race'' (1991) by Ian Trevaskis * ''Space Travellers'' (1992) by Margaret Wild * ''Tracks'' (1992) by

* ''Lucy's Bay'' (1992) by Gary Crew * ''Great Grandpa'' (1994) by Susan McQuade * ''Way Home'' (Andersen, 1994) by Libby Hathorn * ''The Bent-Back Bridge'' (1995) by Gary Crew * ''Running Away From Home'' (1996) by Nigel Gray * ''The Island'' (1996) by Michael O'Hara * ''What Goes With Toes?'' (1996) by Jeri Kroll * ''Beyond The Dusk'' (2000) by Victor Kelleher * ''The Platypus'' (2000) by Jo Brice * ''The Gift'' (2000) by Libby Hathorn * ''Princess Max'' (2001) by Laurie Stiller * ''The Rainbow'' (2001) by Gary Crew * ''Theseus and the Minotaur'' (2002) by Janeen Brian * ''Tiddalick the Thirsty Frog'' (2003) by Mark Carthew * ''The Brothers Grim'' (2004) by Janeen Brian * ''It's True! Fashion Can Be Fatal'' (2004) by Susan Green * ''Flitterwig'' (2009) by Edrei Cullen * ''Clearheart'' (2009) by Edrei Cullen * ''Scatterbungle'' (2011) by Edrei Cullen

References

External links