Gavin Bishop facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gavin Bishop ONZM
Bishop in 2018
Born	Gavin John Bishop 1946 (age 78–79) Invercargill, New Zealand
Occupation	Writer
Language	English
Alma mater	University of Canterbury
Spouse	Vivien Bishop
Children	3

Gavin John Bishop ONZM (born 1946) is an author and illustrator, from Invercargill, New Zealand. He is known for illustrating books from prominent New Zealand authors, including Joy Cowley and Margaret Mahy. Bishop's first published picture book was Mrs McGinty and the Bizarre Plant, published in 1981 by Oxford University Press.

Early life

Bishop was born on 13 February 1946 in Invercargill, to a Tainui and Ngāti Awa family.

Career

Bishop worked as a high school art teacher for thirty years, before writing and illustrating children's books full-time.

In 2006, he accused the makers of the Hollywood film Mr and Mrs Smith of plagiarizing his 1997 school book The Secret Lives of Mr and Mrs Smith.

Select honours and awards

• 2022 – Margaret Mahy Book of the Year, the Nonfiction and Illustration awards for Atua
• 2018 – Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award for Aotearoa: The New Zealand Story at the New Zealand Children's Book Awards
• 2013 – Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Children's Literature.
• 2013 – Mallinson Rendel Illustrators Award
• 2013, 2000, 1994, 1983 – New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards, winner of the picture book category.
• 2010, 2008, 2006, 1982 – LIANZA Russell Clark Medal for Illustration.
• 2000 – Margaret Mahy Medal for Services to Children's Literature.
• 1984 – Noma Concours for Picture Book Illustrations, Grand Prize.

See also

• New Zealand literature