Donovan Bixley is one of New Zealand’s most acclaimed picture book creators with more than 130 titles spanning everything from the lives of Shakespeare, Mozart and Leonardo da Vinci to the hilarious hijinks of pussycats in planes in Paris in his Flying Furballs series. He is most well-known for his bestselling pre-school books such as The Wheels on the Bus and The Great Kiwi ABC Book, as well as his colourful and humorous retellings of the legends of Māui.

Among his many accolades, Donovan was the recipient of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand’s Mallinson Rendel Illustrator’s Laureate Award. Two of his books have been selected for the International Youth Library’s White Raven Award, which annually lists the top 200 children’s books in the world, and he has twice won the Russell Clark award for Illustration.