Russell Ayto

Russell Ayto is an English author and illustrator of children's books including many picture books.

Biography

Russell was born in Chichester, Sussex in 1960 and grew up in Kidlington, Oxfordshire. After school he worked as a postman, then in the Histopathology Department of the John Radcliffe Hospital before studying at Oxford Polytechnic and Exeter College of Art and Design where he gained a degree in Graphic Design. He gained work with Observer Magazine and Time Out and began illustrating adult fiction before his work was spotted by Walker Books and he moved to illustrating children's fiction.

Russell has illustrated over 80 books, including The Cow That Laid an Egg by Andy Cutbill, Quacky Quack-Quack! and Whiff both by Ian Whybrow, and The Witch’s Children series by Ursula Jones. His illustration of The Witch’s Children go to School by Ursula Jones won the 2008 inaugural Roald Dahl Funny Prize.

Russell’s illustrations for The Cow That Almost Missed Christmas (2012) written by Andy Cutbill were adapted into an animated short film for the BBC, featuring the voices of Johnny Vegas and Miriam Margoles. In 2015, SLR Productions launched a series of 52 x 11 minute animated episodes based on the picture books Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs written by Giles Andre and illustrated by Russell Ayto. The third book in the Captain Flinn series, Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs: The Magic Cutlass was later adapted into a stage performance by Les Petits Theatre Company in 2015.

Russell continues to work full time as an author. His self-illustrated books include The Match (2018), Henry and the Yeti (2017), and Mouse in the House (2020).

Russell currently lives with his family near Penzance, Cornwall.

Recognition

• 2001 shortlist, Kate Greenaway Medal (for illustration); The Witch's Children by Ursula Jones
• 2003 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, ages 0–5; The Witch's Children and the Queen by Ursula Jones
• 2004 shortlist, Greenaway Medal; One More Sheep by Mij Kelly
• 2008 shortlist, Booktrust Early Years Award, Pre-school; The Cow That Laid an Egg by Andy Cutbill
• 2008 Roald Dahl Funny Prize, ages 0–6; The Witch's Children go to School by Ursula Jones
• 2014 Honor, Irma Black Award

Works

Adult cover art

• Oxford Coffee Houses, 1651–1800 by Norma Albertin-Potter and Alyx Bennett (Hampden, 1987)
• Why Are We in Vietnam? by Norman Mailer, later edition (Oxford University Press, 1988)
• Fludd by Hilary Mantel, first edition (Viking Press, 1989)

Children's books as writer

• The Other Day I Met a Bear, self-illustrated, Walker Books, 2001
• My Friend Joe, self-illustrated, HarperCollins, 2013
• Henry and the Yeti, self-illustrated, Bloomsbury, 2017
• Cats and Robbers, self-illustrated, Bloomsbury, 2019
• An Earth-Bots Solution to Plastic Pollution, self-illustrated, Kids Can Press, 2021
• Will You Be My Friend? self-illustrated, Andersen Press, 2021
• Mouse in the House, self-illustrated, Andersen Press, 2022

Children's books as illustrator

1990s

Harry and the Lady Next Door by Gene Zion, BBC Books, 1991 Quacky Quack-quack! by Ian Whybrow, Walker Books, 1991 Broops Down the Chimney by Nicholas Fisk, Walker Books, 1991 Trouble at the North Pole by Effin Older Heinemann Young, 1992 Cinderella and the Hot Air Balloon by Ann Jungman, Frances Lincoln, 1992 Contact!: How to Cope With Contact Lenses – and the People Who Wear Them, by Phil Dodd and Jody Tresidder, Gollancz, 1992 Denzil the Dog Polisher by Andrew Matthews, Methuen Young, 1993 Little Luis and the Bad Bandit by Ann Jungman, Walker Books, 1993 Lazy Jack by Vivian French, Walker Books, 1994 The Stray Cat's Tale by Ian Strachan, Heinemann, 1995 The Peckthorn Monster by Hazel Townson, Mammoth, 1995 Mrs Potter's Pig by Phyllis Root, Walker Books, 1996 Ella and the Naughty Lion by Anne Cottringer, Mammoth, 1996 Henry Pond the Poet by Dick King-Smith, Hodder, 1996 Tale of the Terrible Teeth by Hazel Townson, Heinemann, 1996 A Little Too late! by Shirley Jackson, Ladybird Books, 1997 Rollerblading Royals by Karen Wallace, Hodder, 1997 A Funny Sort of Dog by Elizabeth Laird, Mammoth, 1997 The Worm and the Toffee Nosed Princess by Eva Ibbotson, Hodder, 1997 ·Baby Bird by Joyce Dunbar, Walker Books, 1998 A Hiccup on the High Seas by Karen Wallace, A & C Black, 1998 Let the Sun Shine by Kaye Webb (editor), Frances Lincoln, 1998 Choose Your Superhero (poems) by Norman Silver, Hodder, 1998 Gordon (Pet Pals) by Anne Cottringer, Orchard Books, 1999 Where's Tim's Ted? by Ian Whybrow, HarperCollins, 1999 Whiff by Ian Whybrow, Doubleday, 1999

2000s

You'll Soon Grow, Alex by Andrea Shavick, Orchard Books, 2000 Happy Family by Shirley Jackson, Ladybird, 2000 Where’s the Magician? by Marie Birkinshaw, Ladybird, 2001 A Poem a Day, by Adrian Mitchell, Orchard Books, 2001 My Dog by June Crebbin, Walker Books, 2001 Herbie Monkey by Martin Waddell, Walker Books, 2001 The Witch's Children by Ursula Jones, Orchard Books, 2001 Strange Exchange by Pat Thomson, Barn Owl Books, 2002 Fat Cat by James Sage, HarperCollins, 2002 Emily's Legs by Dick King-Smith, Hodder, 2002 Going Up by Martin Waddell, Walker Books, 2003 Cup Run by Martin Waddell, Walker Books, 2003 The Witch's Children and the Queen by Ursula Jones, Orchard Books, 2003 Super Sue by Cressida Cowell, Candlewick Press, 2003 Star Striker Titch by Martin Waddell, Walker Books, 2003 Mr Beast by James Sage, HarperCollins, 2004 One More Sheep by Mij Kelly, Hodder, 2005 Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs by Giles Andreae, Puffin Books, 2005 Super Sue at Super School by Cressida Cowell, Candlewick Press, 2005

One Voice, Please by Sam McBratney, Walker Books, 2005 The Big Adventure (Monster & Frog) by Rose Impey, Orchard Books, 2006 Get Fit (Monster & Frog) by Rose Impey, Orchard Books, 2006 Tim, Ted and the Pirates by Ian Whybrow, HarperCollins, 2006 The Slippery Wallpaper (Monster & Frog) by Rose Impey, Orchard Books, 2006 The Terrible Toothache (Monster & Frog) by Rose Impey, Orchard Books, 2006 All-in-together Cake (Monster & Frog) by Rose Impey, Orchard Books, 2006 The Haunted Tent (Monster & Frog) by Rose Impey, Orchard Books, 2006 Mind the Baby (Monster & Frog) by Rose Impey, Orchard Books, 2007 Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs: Missing Treasure! by Giles Andreae, Puffin, 2007 The Cow That Laid An Egg by Andy Cutbill, HarperCollins, 2007 Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs Activity Book by Giles Andeae, Puffin, 2008 Where Teddy Bears Come From by Mark Burgess, Puffin, 2008 The Cow That Was the Best Moo-Ther by Andy Cutbill, HarperCollins, 2009 The Witch's Children Go to School by Ursula Jones, Orchard Books, 2009 The Best Cow in Show by Andy Cutbill, HarperCollins, 2009 Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs – The Magic Cutlass by Giles Andreae, Puffin, 2009

2010s

• The Love Bugs by Simon Puttock, HarperCollins, 2010
• Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs – Smugglers Bay! by Giles Andreas, Puffin, 2010
• First Week at Cow School by Andy Cutbill, HarperCollins, 2011
• Are the Dinosaurs Dead, Dad? by Julie Middleton, Picture Corgi, 2012
• Dustbin Dad, by Peter Bentley, Simon & Schuster Children’s UK, 2013
• The Somethingosaur, by Tony Mitton, HarperCollins, 2013
• A Very Pirate Christmas, by Timothy Knapman, Egmont Books, 2014
• Top Top Secret, by Claire Freedman, Simon & Schuster, 2014
• Whoops! by Suzi Moore, Templar Publishing, 2015
• Old Misery, by James Sage, Kids Can Press, 2018

External links

• Russell Ayto at Library of Congress, with 26 library catalogue records
• Russell Ayto at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database