Bob Graham

Bob Graham (born October 20, 1942, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian author, illustrator, and creator of picture books for children. Graham received several awards for his illustrations and books.

Graham was born in 1942 in Sydney and grew up in Beverly Hills, a suburb of Sydney, with his parents, sister, grandmother, and a pet dog named Tigger. He enjoyed drawing from an early age and was influenced by comics including The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician. He attended Canterbury Boys’ High School but left the school when he was 17. Graham then worked for a few years before attending the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney. After working at various jobs and spending time in the United Kingdom, Graham returned to Australia and pursued illustration work. Graham and his wife, Carolyn Graham, were married in 1967; they have two children and two grandchildren.

The first book that Graham wrote and illustrated was Pete and Roland (1981), which is about a boy who befriends a parakeet in his backyard. In Rose Meets Mr. Wintergarten (1992) a young girl finds out that her neighbour, whom she thought was a prickly old man, is actually kind. Max (2000) features the son of two famous superheroes, Captain Lightning and Madam Thunderbolt. Max is reluctant to fly but eventually does so in order to save a baby bird falling from its nest. “Let’s Get a Pup!” Said Kate (2001) was followed by the sequel “The Trouble with Dogs. . .” Said Dad (2007). In Home in the Rain (2017) a young girl and her mother discuss names for her new baby sister as they wait out a storm in their car. Graham’s other picture books include Jethro Byrd, Fairy Child (2002), Tales from the Waterhole (2004), How to Heal a Broken Wing (2008), A Bus Called Heaven (2011), The Silver Button (2013), The Poesy Ring (2017), Ellie’s Dragon (2020), and Jigsaw: A Puzzle in the Post (2022).

Graham contributed to other projects as well. He illustrated books by other children’s authors, including Michael Rosen’s This Is Our House (1996), Nigel Gray’s Come On Everybody, Time to Play! (2008), and Ann Stott’s Want to Play Trucks? (2018). In addition, he wrote and illustrated a six-page comic for the French children’s magazine Les Belles Histoires. Graham also illustrated educational material and other nonfiction works.

Graham received several awards for his works, including the Kate Greenaway Medal for children’s book illustration, a prestigious honour established by the United Kingdom’s Library Association, for Jethro Byrd, Fairy Child in 2002, as well as the Early Childhood Book of the Year Award from the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) for How to Heal a Broken Wing in 2009 and Home in the Rain in 2017. Additionally, he won the CBCA’s Picture Book of the Year Award six times, including in 2012 for A Bus Called Heaven. Graham also received Australia’s Prime Minister’s Literary Award for children’s fiction for The Silver Buttons in 2014 and Home in the Rain in 2017.

Graham often writes about ordinary events and incorporates animals into his stories. In the process of creating his picture books, he typically uses pen, chalks, ink, and watercolour rather than digital tools.