Polly Dunbar (born 1977) is an English author-illustrator. She is best known for her self-illustrated books ''

Penguin Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adap ...

'', the ''Tilly and Friends'' series (which became a BBC children's television series) and ''Hello, Mum'' – an illustrated memoir of motherhood and her first book for adults. She has also illustrated other authors' books: ''Bubble Trouble'' by

Margaret Mahy Margaret Mahy (21 March 1936 – 23 July 2012) was a New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. Many of her story plots have strong supernatural elements but her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growi ...

, ''

My Dad's a Birdman ''My Dad's a Birdman'' is a 2007 children's illustrated novel by David Almond. It is about a girl, Lizzie, who finds herself looking after her dad, Jackie, after the death of her mother, and his dreams of competing in "The Great Human Bird Compe ...

'' by

David Almond David Almond (born 15 May 1951) is a British author who has written many novels for children and young adults from 1998, each one receiving critical acclaim. He is one of thirty children's writers, and one of three from the UK, to win the bie ...

, ''Can Bears Ski?'' by poet Raymond Antrobus, ''Owl or Pussycat?'' by

Michael Morpurgo Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo (''né'' Bridge; 5 October 1943) is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as '' War Horse'' (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytelli ...

, and ''While We Can't Hug'' by Eoin Mclaughlin.In Conversation: Raymond Antrobus and Polly Dunbar
from ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' ''Hello, Mum'' is Polly's first book for grown-ups, a visual diary about early motherhood. She is the daughter of children's book writer

Joyce Dunbar Joyce Dunbar (born 6 January 1944) is an English writer. She primarily writes books for children, and has published over seventy books.Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of J ...

and moved to

Stratford upon Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-w ...

at eight months old. She went to school there until she was eleven and moved to Norwich with her family. There she attended

City of Norwich School The City of Norwich School, more commonly known as CNS, is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Norwich, England. History In 1910, the Education Committee decided to merge the King Edward VI Middle School in ...

and Norwich School of Art and Design, now known as Norwich University College of the Arts. She started writing and illustrating at age 16, when she published two books – which she describes as "cartoon books inspired by teenage antics".Illustrator's Gallery: Polly Dunbar
from ''Book Trust Children's Books'' She went to

Brighton University The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achiev ...

and graduated in 1999 with a degree in illustration. She lives in Waveny Valley,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

with her partner and their two sons.

Career

Polly Dunbar's ''Dog Blue'' and ''Flyaway Katie'', both as author-illustrator, were published in 2004.Take 3: Illustrators
from ''Books For Keeps'' The following year she illustrated ''Shoe Baby'', written by her mother, author

Joyce Dunbar Joyce Dunbar (born 6 January 1944) is an English writer. She primarily writes books for children, and has published over seventy books. Her 2007 book ''

'' is her most critically acclaimed book to date, winning the Booktrust Early Years Awards in the pre-school category and the silver award in the Nestle Children's Book Prize for children under five years old. She is also the illustrator for ''Here's A Little Poem'' which was on the

IBBY The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is an international non-profit organization committed to bringing books and children together. The headquarters of the IBBY are located in Basel, Switzerland. IBBY history In 1952, Jella Lepm ...

honour's book list for 2008, and ''Bubble Trouble'' by Margaret Mahy, which won a

Boston Globe–Horn Book Award The Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards are a set of American literary awards conferred by ''The Boston Globe'' and ''The Horn Book Magazine'' annually from 1967. One book is recognized in each of four categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonfiction, and P ...

in 2009. Dunbar was named "Most Promising New Illustrator" in ''

s Cuffie Awards in 2004. In 2008, she was featured in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

''s list of "The best new picture book illustrators". In 2008 Booktrust named her one of the Ten Best Illustrators, and in 2011 she became their fourth writer in residence. In 2020, Dunbar illustrated ''Can Bears Ski?'' by award-winning poet Raymond Antrobus, ''Owl or Pussycat?'' by

, and ''While We Can't Hug'' by Eoin Mclaughlin. In 2021 her first adult book, ''Hello, Mum'', was published by

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...

Adaptations

Her ''Tilly and Friends'' books became a BBC animated television series, which aired on CBeebies in 2012. She co-founded ''Long Nose Puppets'' in 2006. Since then, the company has performed puppet adaptations of her books ''

'', ''Flyaway Katie'', ''Shoe Baby'', ''Arthur's Dream Boat'', and soon ''While We Can't Hug''. Their production of ''Shoe Baby'' won Best Children’s Show at Brighton Fringe Festival.

Bibliography

*''Henry VIII, Hole Story'', Scholastic 2002 *''Cleopatra, Hole Story'', Scholastic 2002 *''Scrooge, Hole Story'', Scholastic 2002 *''Flyaway Katie'', Walker Books 2004 *''Dog Blue'', Walker Books 2004 *''

'', Walker Books 2007 *''Arthur's Dream Boat'', Walker Books 2012 *''Something Fishy'', Two Hoots 2018 *''A Lion is a Lion'', Walker Books 2018 *''Red Red Red'', Walker Books 2019 *''Hello, Mum'',

2021

Help series

*''Help I've forgotten my Brain'', Kingfisher 1996 *''Help I'm out with the in-crowd'', Kingfisher 1996

Tilly series

:all published via Walker Books :adapted into BBC series 2012 cartoon Tilly and Friends on TVO Kids. *"Hello Tilly" 2008, MIDI edition 6 September 2012 about a human girl *"Happy Hector" 2008, MIDI edition 6 September 2012 about a pig boy *"Pretty Pru" 2008, MIDI edition 6 September 2012 about a bird girl *"Where's Tumpty?" 2008, MIDI edition 6 September 2012 about an elephant boy *"Doodle Bites" 2008, MIDI edition 6 September 2012 about a girl crocodile *"Goodnight, Tiptoe" 2008, MIDI edition 6 September 2012 about a boy bunny *"Let's Get Wheeling!" 1 August 2013 *"Listen to Me!" 1 August 2013 *"Star Party" 1 August 2013 *"The Best Day Ever" 1 August 2013 *"What's Everyone Doing?" 3 April 2014 *"Who's Hiding?" 3 April 2014 *"Doctor Tilly" 3 July 2014 *"Tumpty's Plane" 3 July 2014 Sticker Activity Books: *"Dressing Up" 3 October 2013 *"Play All Day" 3 October 2013

As illustrator

*''A Saucepan on his Head, Collected Nonsense Poems'' written by M Baars and S Ellis, Walker Books 2001 *''The Dragon Test'' written by June Crebbin, Walker Books 2003 *''Hal the Highway Man'' written by June Crebbin, Walker Books 2003 *''Lucy and the Fire Stone'' written by June Crebbin, Walker Books 2004 *''Hal the Pirate'' written by June Crebbin, Walker Books 2004 *''Looking after Louis'' written by Lesley Ely,

Frances Lincoln Children's Books The Quarto Group is a global illustrated book publishing group founded in 1976. It is domiciled in the United States and listed on the London Stock Exchange. Quarto creates and sells illustrated books for adults and children, across 50 countri ...

2004 *''Shoe Baby'' written by

Joyce Dunbar Joyce Dunbar (born 6 January 1944) is an English writer. She primarily writes books for children, and has published over seventy books.Walker Books 2005 *''Down the Back of the Chair'' written by

2006 *''

'' written by

, Walker Books 2007 *''Measuring Angels'' written by Lesley Ely,

2007 *''Here's a Little Poem'' edited by

Jane Yolen Jane Hyatt Yolen (born February 11, 1939) is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children's books. She is the author or editor of more than 350 books, of which the best known is '' The Devil's Arithmetic'', a Holocaust novella. H ...

and Andrew Fusek Peters Walker Books 2007 *'' Bubble Trouble'' written by

2008 *''The Boy Who Climbed into the Moon'' written by

, Walker Books 2010 *''A Cat Called Penguin'',

Holly Webb Holly Webb (born 1976 in London) is a British children's writer. She studied Classics at Newnham College at Cambridge University, Byzantine and Medieval Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art, and then worked as an editor until 2005. She ...

(author), 2011 *''Pat-a-Cake Baby'' written by

Joyce Dunbar Joyce Dunbar (born 6 January 1944) is an English writer. She primarily writes books for children, and has published over seventy books.Walker Books 2015 *''I Will Not Wear Pink'' written by

Joyce Dunbar Joyce Dunbar (born 6 January 1944) is an English writer. She primarily writes books for children, and has published over seventy books.Walker Books 2017 *''The Hug'' written by Eoin Mclaughlin,

2019 *''While We Can't Hug'' written by Eoin Mclaughlin,

2020 *''Owl or Pussycat?'' written by

, David Fickling Books 2020 *''Can Bears Ski?'' written by Raymond Antrobus, Candlewick Press 2020 *''The Longer the Wait, the Bigger the Hug'' written by Eoin Mclaughlin,

2021 *''The Kiss'' written by Eoin Mclaughlin,

2022The Kiss
Bookshop.org

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunbar, Polly Living people British children's writers British children's book illustrators Writers who illustrated their own writing Alumni of the University of Brighton Alumni of Norwich University of the Arts English illustrators 1977 births