Rob Biddulph

Rob Biddulph is a British children's author and illustrator.

Early life Biddulph was born on 12 October 1972 in Barnet, London. He attended Dame Alice Owen's School. He graduated with a BA(Hons) degree in Visual Communication and Design from Middlesex University in 1994.

Career Before becoming an author and illustrator, he worked as an art director for The Observer Magazine, NME, Uncut, SKY Magazine and Just Seventeen.

In 2014, he published his first picture book, Blown Away, about an intrepid blue penguin. In 2015, he won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize for Blown Away, which was the second picture book to win the prize.

Several of his picture books have featured on the BBC television series CBeebies Bedtime Stories. Odd Dog Out was read by Tom Hardy in 2017, Blown Away was read by Mark Bonnar in 2017, GRRRRR! was read by Chris Kamara in 2019, Show and Tell was read by Rick Astley in 2019, An Odd Dog Christmas was read by Hardy in 2021, and Gigantic was read by Cody Rhodes in 2025.

In 2021, he published his first middle-grade book, Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City.

Biddulph was the official World Book Day illustrator between 2019 and 2021 and was named Illustrator of the Year at the British Book Awards (the Nibbies) in May 2025.

Draw with Rob In March 2020, Biddulph began uploading twice-weekly draw-along videos to help children looking for things to keep them occupied whilst stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The videos received millions of views worldwide, and on 20 May 2020 Biddulph broke the Guinness World Record for the largest ever online art class when 45,611 households joined him in drawing a blue whale via his YouTube channel. In the process, over £50,000 was raised for charity. Biddulph was named as a UK Point of Light by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, who said "As our country observed the toughest restrictions in living memory, you inspired the creative spirit of the nation with millions of families tuning in to your #DrawWithRob series and spending special time together honing their artistic skills."

Publications Blown Away, 2014 GRRRRR!, 2015 Odd Dog Out, 2016 Sunk!, 2017 Kevin, 2017 Dinosaur Juniors: Happy Hatchday, 2018 Dinosaur Juniors: Give Peas a Chance, 2018 Dinosaur Juniors: Wide Awake, 2019 Show and Tell, 2019 Dog Gone, 2020 An Odd Dog Christmas, 2021 The Blue-footed Booby, 2022 Gigantic, 2023 Charlie McGrew & the Horse That He Drew, 2024 I Follow the Fox, 2024 When I Grow Up I'd Like to Be..., 2025 Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City, 2021 Peanut Jones and the Twelve Portals, 2022 Peanut Jones and the End of the Rainbow, 2023 The Draw with Rob series, 2020– The My First Draw with Rob series, 2023–

Collaborations The Flat Stanley series, 2017-2018, written by Jeff Brown The Radio Boy series, 2017-2018, written by Christian O'Connell The Adventures of Parsley the Lion, 2020, written by Michael Bond The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates, 2020, written by Jenny Pearson The Furry Purry Beancat series, 2020, written by Philip Ardagh

Awards and recognitions

2015: Waterstones Children's Book Prize, winner (Blown Away) 2015: Waterstones Children's Book Prize, Best Illustrated Book, winner (Blown Away) 2017: BSC Festival of Literature Picture Book Award, winner (Odd Dog Out) 2017: Oscar's Book Prize, shortlisted (Odd Dog Out) 2017: Independent Booksellers Book Award, shortlisted (Odd Dog Out) 2017: Sheffield Children's Book Award, shortlisted (Odd Dog Out) 2018: Kate Greenaway Medal, nominated (Sunk!) 2018: Oscar's Book Prize, shortlisted (Sunk!) 2018: The People's Book Prize, shortlisted (Sunk!) 2018: Kate Greenaway Medal, nominated (Kevin) 2018: BSC Festival of Literature Picture Book Award, shortlisted (Kevin) 2018: Independent Booksellers Book Award, shortlisted (Kevin) 2018: Junior Magazine Design Awards, Gold, winner (Dinosaur Juniors: Happy Hatchday) 2019: Kate Greenaway Medal, nominated (Dinosaur Juniors: Give Peas a Chance) 2019: BSC Festival of Literature Picture Book Award, shortlisted (Show and Tell) 2020: UK Point of Light, winner 2020: Sainsbury's Children's Book Award, winner (Draw With Rob) 2020: Sheffield Children's Book Award, winner (Show and Tell) 2021: British Book Awards, shortlisted (Draw With Rob) 2021: BSC Festival of Literature Picture Book Award, shortlisted (Dog Gone) 2022: Yoto Carnegie Illustration Medal, nominated (The Blue-footed Booby) 2023: Fantastic Book Award, Lancashire School Library Service, winner (Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City) 2023: FCBG Children's Book Award, nominated (The Blue-Footed Booby) 2023: BSC Festival of Literature Picture Book Award, shortlisted (The Blue-Footed Booby) 2023: Cover of the Year, The Week Junior Book Awards, winner (Peanut Jones and the Twelve Portals) 2024: Oscar's Book Prize, shortlisted (Gigantic) 2024: Sheffield Children's Book Award, winner, picture book category (Gigantic) 2024: FCBG Children's Book Award, winner (Gigantic) 2024: Laugh-Out-Loud Award, shortlisted (The Blue-Footed Booby) 2024: Picture Book of the Year, The Week Junior Book Awards, highly commended (Gigantic) 2025: Illustrator of the Year, The British Book Awards, winner He has a cocker spaniel called Ringo. He is a fan of Arsenal FC.