Robyn Belton

Robyn Belton is an illustrator of children's books. Her work, often focusing on themes of war and peace, has won many prizes, including the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards 1997 Picture Book Winner and Book of the Year, and the Russell Clark Award in 1985 and 2009. She herself has been recognised with the prestigious Storylines Margaret Mahy Award and the inaugural Ignition Children's Book Festival Award. She lives in Otago, New Zealand.

Biography Robyn Belton was born in 1947. She grew up on a farm at Whangaehu, near Whanganui and went to boarding school at Whanganui from the age of 12. Later she studied at the Canterbury School of Fine Arts where Russell Clark was one of her tutors series). The Bantam and The Soldier, written by Jennifer Beck and illustrated by Robyn Belton, was New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards 1997 Picture Book Winner and Book of the Year.

The Duck in the Gun, an anti-war picture book written by Joy Cowley and illustrated by Robyn Belton, won the Russell Clark Award in 1985 and was later selected as one of ten books for the Hiroshima Peace Museum.

Herbert the Brave Sea Dog, based on the true story of a dog lost at sea, was both written and illustrated by Belton

Belton was awarded the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal in 2006 and delivered her speech titled "Gathering Images: The Stories Behind the Pictures". In 2011, she was the recipient of the William Hodges Fellowship. During this time, they worked on The Anzac Violin, based on the story of Alexander Aitken and the Aitken Violin, now on display at Otago Boys' High School.

In 2018, she received the inaugural Ignition Children's Book Festival Award in Dunedin for her "sustained and dedicated contribution to children’s literature and illustration over a lifetime of work."