Rob Biddulph is a British children's author and illustrator.

Early life

Biddulph was born on 12 October 1972 in Barnet, London. He attended

Dame Alice Owen's School Dame Alice Owen's School (also known as Dame Alice Owen's or Owen's; referred to by the acronym DAOS) is an 11–18 mixed, partially selective secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, England. It i ...

. He graduated with a BA(Hons) degree in Visual Communication and Design from Middlesex University in 1994

Career

Before becoming an author and illustrator, he worked as an art director for ''

The Observer Magazine ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'', ''

SKY Magazine Sky Magazine (or 'Sky Mag') was a magazine distributed to subscribers of the BSkyB satellite service Sky Digital. Availability The magazine was available to subscribers of the Variety Pack or all packs of entertainment. Content The magazines ...

'' and '' Just Seventeen''. In 2014, he published his first picture book, ''Blown Away'', about an intrepid blue penguin. In 2015, he won the

Waterstones Children's Book Prize The Waterstones Children's Book Prize is an annual award given to a work of children's literature published during the previous year. First awarded in 2005, the purpose of the prize is "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" and is there ...

for ''Blown Away''. It was only the second picture book in history to win the prize. Several of his picture books have featured on the BBC television series CBeebies Bedtime Stories. ''Odd Dog Out'' was read by Tom Hardy in 2017, ''Blown Away'' was read by Mark Bonnar in 2017, ''GRRRRR!'' was read by Chris Kamara in 2019, ''Show and Tell'' was read by Rick Astley in 2019, and ''An Odd Dog Christmas'' was read by Tom Hardy in 2021. In 2021, he published his first middle-grade book, ''Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City'', to critical acclaim. Biddulph was the official World Book Day illustrator between 2019 and 2021.

Draw With Rob

In March 2020, Biddulph started the #DrawWithRob initiative. He began to upload a series of free, twice-weekly draw-along videos to help children looking for things to keep them occupied whilst stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was an immediate hit, receiving millions of views worldwide, and became an important part of many children's lockdown experience. On 20 May 2020, Biddulph broke the Guinness World Record for the largest ever online art class when 45,611 households joined him in drawing a blue whale via his YouTube channel. In the process, over £50,000 was raised for charity. In recognition of the service he provided for thousands of children, he was named as a UK Point of Light by Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, in 2020, who said “As our country observed the toughest restrictions in living memory, you inspired the creative spirit of the nation with millions of families tuning in to your #DrawWithRob series and spending special time together honing their artistic skills." All of the #DrawWithRob videos are available to watch for free.

Publications

*''Blown Away'', 2014 *''GRRRRR!'', 2015 *''Odd Dog Out'', 2016 *Sunk!, 2017 *''Kevin'', 2017 *''Dinosaur Juniors: Happy Hatchday'', 2018 *''Dinosaur Juniors: Give Peas a Chance'', 2018 *''Dinosaur Juniors: Wide Awake'', 2019 *''Show and Tell'', 2019 *''Dog Gone, 2020'' *''An Odd Dog Christmas'', 2021 *''The Blue-footed Booby'', 2022 *Gigantic, ''2023'' *''Charlie McGrew & the Horse That He Drew'', 2024 *''Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City'', 2021 *''Peanut Jones and the Twelve Portals'', 2022 *''Peanut Jones and the End of the Rainbow'', 2023 *The ''Draw With Rob'' series, 2020-2027 *The ''Flat Stanley'' series, 2017-2018, written by Jeff Brown *The ''Radio Boy'' series, 2017-2018, written by

Christian O'Connell Christian Liam O'Connell (born 7 April 1973 in Winchester, Hampshire) is a British radio disc jockey, television host, writer, and comedian living in Australia. He presents ''The Christian O'Connell Show'' on weekday mornings on Gold 104.3 in ...

*''The Adventures of Parsley the Lion'', 2020, written by

Michael Bond Thomas Michael Bond (13 January 1926 – 27 June 2017) was a British author. He is best known for a series of fictional stories for children, featuring the character of Paddington Bear. More than 35 million Paddington books have been sold ...

*''The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates'', 2020, written by Jenny Pearson *The ''Furry Purry Beancat'' series, 2020, written by

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 ...

Awards and recognitions

* 2015:

, winner (''Blown Away'') * 2015:

, Best Illustrated Book, winner (''Blown Away'') * 2015: Kate Greenaway Medal, nominated (''Blown Away'') * 2015: Independent Booksellers Book Award, shortlisted (''Blown Away'') * 2016: Kate Greenaway Medal, nominated (''GRRRRR!'') * 2016: Independent Booksellers Book Award, shortlisted (''GRRRRR!'') * 2017: UKLA Student Shadower's Book Award, winner (''Odd Dog Out'') * 2017: BSC Festival of Literature Picture Book Award, winner (''Odd Dog Out'') * 2017:

Oscar's Book Prize Oscar's Book Prize is a British children's book prize awarded annually to a book for pre-school age children, which was first published in the UK during the previous calendar year. The £5,000 prize is supported by the London Evening Standard and ...

, shortlisted (''Odd Dog Out'') * 2017: Independent Booksellers Book Award, shortlisted (''Odd Dog Out'') * 2017: Sheffield Children's Book Award, shortlisted (''Odd Dog Out'') * 2018: Kate Greenaway Medal, nominated (''Sunk!'') * 2018:

, shortlisted (''Sunk!'') * 2018: The People's Book Prize, shortlisted (''Sunk!'') * 2018: Kate Greenaway Medal, nominated (''Kevin'') * 2018: BSC Festival of Literature Picture Book Award, shortlisted (''Kevin'') * 2018: Independent Booksellers Book Award, shortlisted (''Kevin'') * 2018: Junior Magazine Design Awards, Gold, winner (''Dinosaur Juniors: Happy Hatchday'') * 2019: Kate Greenaway Medal, nominated (''Dinosaur Juniors: Give Peas a Chance'') * 2019: BSC Festival of Literature Picture Book Award, shortlisted (''Show and Tell'') * 2020: UK Point of Light, winner * 2020: Sainsbury's Children's Book Award, winner (''Draw With Rob'') * 2020: Sheffield Children's Book Award, winner (''Show and Tell'') * 2021:

British Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by '' The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Nationa ...

, shortlisted (''Draw With Rob'') * 2021: BSC Festival of Literature Picture Book Award, shortlisted (''Dog Gone'') * 2022: Yoto Carnegie Illustration Medal, nominated (''The Blue-footed Booby'') * 2023: Fantastic Book Award, Lancashire School Library Service, winner (''Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City'') * 2023: Cover of the Year, The Week Junior Book Awards, winner (''Peanut Jones and the Twelve Portals'')

Personal life

Biddulph is married with three daughters, and lives in London. He has a cocker spaniel called Ringo. He is a fan of

Arsenal FC Arsenal Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, London, England. Arsenal plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 league titles (incl ...

References

External links

*
Draw With Rob
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biddulph, Rob Living people 21st-century British novelists British children's writers 1972 births