Oliver Jeffers - Children's Author

Oliver Jeffers is still relatively new to the world of book illustration and yet he has already won numerous awards and delighted millions of kids and parents alike with his beautifully hand illustrated stories. 

Jeffers's picture books are wonderfully accessible. They explore themes of friendship, loneliness, independence and imagination. He has written and illustrated, or "made", as he prefers to put it, five hugely successful picture books. The first three - the "boy books" - feature a small boy who sets off on a series of daunting quests. How to Catch a Star (2004), the first of them, was inspired by a Brer Rabbit story he read as a child. In Lost and Found (2005) the boy heroically rows to the south pole for the sake of an unhappy penguin, and in The Way Back Home (2007) he rescues a young Martian whose spaceship has crashed on the moon.

His latest The Heart and the Bottle is wholly compelling for the importance of its message and the brilliance of how that is conveyed in words and pictures. This is a book to return to time and time again says Julia Eccleshare, Lovereading4kids’ editorial expert.

Jeffers was born in Australia in 1977 and brought up in Belfast. He studied visual communication at the University of Ulster, and graduated in 2001. Jeffers became passionate about making picture books when he began to understand the subtle relationship between words and pictures – ‘that was what excited me. Until I got really involved, I hadn't realised how just a few words can totally change the meaning of a picture.’ Now living in New York, he works as a painter, designer, printmaker and installation artist, but remains very busy making picture books.

Did you know?

Oliver loves plastic food, suitcase handles and Elvis, and has developed a bizarre habit of endlessly writing lists he never reads. He remains hell bent on travelling all over the world.

You can see Oliver talking about his artwork in this video:

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Featured Books, with extracts by Oliver Jeffers

Stuck
Oliver Jeffers
Shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2012. Delightful chaos ensues when a young boy gets his kite stuck up a tree in this laugh-out-loud new picture book from award-winning, internationally best-selling author-illustrator Oliver Jeffers!  A hilarious book with a wonderful...
Featured in: 3+ readers | Book Awards | eBooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 26/04/2012
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The Hueys in The New Jumper
Oliver Jeffers
The thing about the Hueys is that they are all the same! They all look the same, think the same and do the same things. Until one day, Rupert knits himself a new jumper! How will the other Hueys react?...
Featured in: 3+ readers
Format: Hardback - Released: 26/04/2012
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Up and Down
Oliver Jeffers
A Lovereading4kids 'Great Read' you may have missed 2011 selection. A touching story of how two friends feel when they separate and try to manage without each other. Prize-winning illustrator Oliver Jeffers specialises in spare illustrations which are warm hearted but...
Featured in: 3+ readers | 5+ readers | Baby and Toddler
Format: Paperback - Released: 28/04/2011
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The Heart and the Bottle (Book and CD)
Oliver Jeffers
Paperback and CD-audio edition. Award winning Oliver Jeffers’ book is wholly compelling for the importance of its message and the brilliance of how...
Featured in: 3+ readers | Baby and Toddler
Format: Mixed media product - Released: 03/02/2011
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Up and Down
Oliver Jeffers
A touching story of how two friends feel when they separate and try to manage without each other. Prize-winning illustrator Oliver Jeffers specialises in spare illustrations which are warm hearted but also capture the deep sadness of being alone in...
Featured in: 3+ readers | Books of the Month
Format: Hardback - Released: 02/09/2010
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The Heart and the Bottle
Oliver Jeffers
Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2011 Award winning Oliver Jeffers’s latest book is wholly compelling for the importance of its message...
Featured in: 3+ readers | Book Awards
Format: Paperback - Released: 02/09/2010
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How to Catch a Star
Oliver Jeffers
A prize winning illustrator with a reputation for spare illustrations which pack a huge emotional punch. A little boy so loves the stars that he decides to set off and try to catch one. But catching a star is not as easy as...
Featured in: Baby and Toddler
Format: Board book - Released: 01/04/2010
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The Heart and the Bottle
Oliver Jeffers
Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2011 Award winning Oliver Jeffers’s latest book is wholly compelling for the importance of its message...
Featured in: 3+ readers
Format: Hardback - Released: 04/03/2010
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The Incredible Book Eating Boy (pop-up edition)
Oliver Jeffers
Delicious pop-up spreads bring an interactive version of this popular story about a boy who loves books so much that he actually eats his way through them. An entertaining story about different ways of loving reading from an award winning...
Featured in: 5+ readers | Books of the Month
Format: Hardback - Released: 01/11/2009
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The Great Paper Caper
Oliver Jeffers
Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2010. Touching and funny, this is also a visually sophisticated picture book which lightly carries an important message about the use – and misuse - of resources. CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal SHORTLIST 2010:...
Featured in: 3+ readers | Book Awards
Format: Paperback - Released: 30/04/2009
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Lost and Found: Board Book
Oliver Jeffers
Celebrating the value of friendship, this is an exquisitely illustrated picture book with a simple story line. Opening his door and finding a penguin on it, the little boy takes pity on the sad looking creature who he immediately assumes is lost. Together...
Featured in: 3+ readers
Format: Board book - Released: 02/04/2009
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The Great Paper Caper
Oliver Jeffers
Shortlisted for the Bisto Irish Children's Book Award. Touching and funny, this is also a visually sophisticated picture book which lightly carries an important message about the use – and misuse - of resources. All is not well in the...
Featured in: 3+ readers | Book Awards
Format: Hardback - Released: 01/09/2008
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The Way Back Home
Oliver Jeffers
Shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Award 2009. This is an absolutely delightful book that is sure to capture the imagination of toddlers.  Jeffers’ illustrations are an absolute delight and together with the text tell an extraordinary and original story about...
Featured in: Baby and Toddler | Book Awards
Format: Paperback - Released: 06/05/2008
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The Way Back Home
Oliver Jeffers
Oliver Jeffers has been selected as one of The Big Picture campaign's Best New Illustrators in 2008. This is an absolutely delightful book that is sure to capture the imagination of toddlers.  Jeffers’ illustrations are an absolute delight and...
Featured in: Baby and Toddler
Format: Hardback - Released: 03/09/2007
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The Incredible Book Eating Boy
Oliver Jeffers
Book and Audio CD. A brilliant picture book about a boy with an unusual attitude to books! Henry loves books but not in the same way as most people: Henry loves to eat books… He starts with just a word, then...
Featured in: 3+ readers
Format: Mixed media product - Released: 01/05/2007
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Incredible Book-eating Boy
Oliver Jeffers
Oliver Jeffers has been selected as one of The Big Picture campaign's Best New Illustrators in 2008. A brilliant picture book about a boy with an unusual attitude to books! Henry loves books but not in the same way...
Featured in: 3+ readers
Format: Hardback - Released: 04/09/2006
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Lost and Found
Oliver Jeffers
Oliver Jeffers has been selected as one of The Big Picture campaign's Best New Illustrators in 2008. Winner of the Blue Peter Book Awards - Best Illustrated book to read aloud. Celebrating the value of friendship, this is an exquisitely illustrated...
Featured in: 3+ readers | Book Awards
Format: Paperback - Released: 02/05/2006
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Lost and Found
Oliver Jeffers
Oliver Jeffers has been selected as one of The Big Picture campaign's Best New Illustrators in 2008. Shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal 2005 (presented 2006) Celebrating the value of friendship, this is an exquisitely illustrated picture book with...
Featured in: 3+ readers
Format: Hardback - Released: 05/09/2005
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How to Catch a Star
Oliver Jeffers
A prize winning illustrator with a reputation for spare illustrations which pack a huge emotional punch. A little boy so loves the stars that he decides to set off and try to catch one. But catching a star is not...
Featured in: 3+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 30/04/2005
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Stuck
Oliver Jeffers
Floyd gets his kite stuck up a tree. He throws up his shoe to shift it, but that gets stuck too. So he throws up his other shoe and that gets stuck, along with! a ladder, a pot of paint,...
Featured in: Baby and Toddler | Book Awards | eBooks
Format: Hardback - Released: 01/09/2011
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It Wasn't Me
Oliver Jeffers
Meet the Hueys - a fabulously quirky group of characters from international bestselling, award-winning author/illustrator, Oliver Jeffers, creator of How to Catch a Star and Lost and Found. A fight has broken out amongst The Hueys. It was not me! It...
Featured in: 3+ readers
Format: Hardback - Released: 25/04/2013
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