Bob Graham - Children's Author

Winner of the Kate Greenaway and Smarties Gold Medals and the Australian Children’s Book of the Year Award an unprecedented three times, Bob Graham has written and illustrated many acclaimed children’s books, including How to Heal a Broken Wing and Jethro Byrde, Fairy Child. 

Bob Graham lives in Victoria, Australia, with his wife, Carolyn, a printmaker who makes landscapes out of lino and wood. They have two grown-up children, Naomi, a musician and refugee worker living in London, and Peter, an artist in Melbourne making big, beautiful, ethereal paintings in oil. They have two grandchildren, Oliver and his older sister Rosie - and to them he is "Bob" rather than "Grandad" (somehow that name has the feeling of pipes, carpet slippers and rocking chairs; and he's not quite ready for that). He reads them books (mostly other people's and, very occasionally, his own), and they just blob around and go to the park, and things like that. Like a grandad and grandchildren are supposed to do.

As a child

"I lived with my mum, dad, my older sister and my grandmother - and a cat called Smokey. There was still a bit of bush around our suburb, where I could muck about. I could sometimes ride my scooter the entire length of the street in the gutter. There were few parked cars back in those days. I read Boys Own annuals from England, Hans Christian Andersen and Brothers Grimm stories from Europe, and America provided the superheroes in comic book form: Superman, Captain Marvel, The Phantom (the ghost who walks) and even Popeye, who constantly rescued his girlfriend, Olive Oyl, from the clutches of Bluto (all it took was a can of spinach). My course for a lifetime of interesting reading was set."

As an artist

"Every time a computer graphics course is advertised in the local paper, I say, "I MUST go." But I always have something else to do, it seems. So I still use a pen dipped in ink, and chalks and watercolour, and scissors and sticky tape. Oh yes, and sometimes I tap out some words on my computer. And that suits me just fine."

Things you didn't know about Bob Graham

I like surfing and Irish music.

I like the sound of dogs' ears flapping.

I like chillies, coffee, chocolate and reading in bed.

I like Bob Dylan, babies, breakfast and beer.

I like looking out of the window, sitting in the sun and drawing.

I like skateboarders, rock and roll and interesting parcels.

I like family photo albums, train journeys and reunions at airports.

I dislike dog catchers (of dogs just having fun).

I dislike progressive barn dances.

And I dislike bullies.

 

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Featured Books, with extracts by Bob Graham

A Bus Called Heaven
Bob Graham
Prize-winning illustrator/ author Bob Graham creates a magical story of how a community is changed by the arrival of a broken down old bus. Led by Stella, everyone gets involved in smartening up the bus and everyone has a smile...
Featured in: 3+ readers
Format: Hardback - Released: 02/02/2012
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How to Heal a Broken Wing
Bob Graham
Shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Award 2009. A story of hope and compassion in a big city - from Australian picture book master, Bob Graham. What the Kate Greenaway Award judges said: 'A beautifully understated book which makes fantastic use of perspective and of a...
Featured in: 3+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 01/03/2010
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How to Heal a Broken Wing
Bob Graham
Shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Award 2009. A story of hope and compassion in a big city -- from Australian picture book master, Bob Graham.   What the Kate Greenaway Award judges said: 'A beautifully understated book which makes fantastic use of perspective...
Featured in: 3+ readers | Book Awards
Format: Hardback - Released: 02/06/2008
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Jack's Little Party
Bob Graham
A perfect first reader – three stories about Jack who thinks his Mum is a little bit odd and a little bit embarrassing until he has a friend home and discovers that odd can be fun, too.
Featured in: 5+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 03/05/2007
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April Underhill, Tooth Fairy
Bob Graham
Equipped with a bag, a coin and a mobile phone, toothfairy sisters April and Esme head for Daniel Dangerfield's house, and a very unusual first tooth visit! How to Heal a Broken Wing won the Charlotte Zolotow Award for best...
Featured in: 5+ readers | Book Awards
Format: Hardback - Released: 05/07/2010
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