Gavin Bishop
Gavin John Bishop ONZM (born 1946) is an author and illustrator, from Invercargill, New Zealand. He is known for illustrating books from prominent New Zealand authors, including Joy Cowley and Margaret Mahy.
Also recorded as Gavin John Bishop
Gavin Bishop
Johannes van Kan · Supplied by copyright holder WORD Christchurch programme director Rachael King · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Gavin Bishop
- Birth Name
- Gavin John Bishop
- Born
- 1946
- Birthplace
- Invercargill, New Zealand
- Occupation
- Writer
- Education
- University of Canterbury
- Spouse
- Vivien Bishop
- Nationality
- New Zealand
- Honours
- Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement (Non-Fiction) · honorary doctor of the University of Canterbury
Enciclopedia VALÉORINE
Il dossier documentario
Ogni enunciato è letto negli archivi di autorità delle istituzioni nominate. Scegliete «Prova» accanto a un enunciato per vedere la scheda da cui è tratto, il punto esatto e la data di lettura.
Gavin Bishop (nascita: 1946) figura come illustratore, autore di libri illustrati, autore di saggistica e autore di libri per bambini negli archivi di autorità della Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Vita
Gavin Bishop nacque nel 1946 a Invercargill.
Istituzioni citate
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Catena di lettura completa (JSON)Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Gavin Bishop. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q26466098 · wikipedia · Gavin Bishop
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Gavin Bishop • Honorific Suffix — ONZM • Birth Name — Gavin John Bishop • Born — 1946 • Birthplace — Invercargill, New Zealand • Occupation — Writer • Language — English • Education — University of Canterbury • Spouse — Vivien Bishop • Children — 3 • Website — gavinbishop.com
Early life
Early life
Bishop was born on 13 February 1946 in Invercargill, to a Tainui and Ngāti Awa family.
Career
Career
Bishop worked as a high school art teacher for thirty years, before writing and illustrating children's books full-time. Bishop's first published picture book was Mrs McGinty and the Bizarre Plant, published in 1981 by Oxford University Press. In 2006, he accused the makers of the Hollywood film Mr and Mrs Smith of plagiarizing his 1997 school book The Secret Lives of Mr and Mrs Smith. Hundreds of artworks by Bishop were purchased by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in a deal announced in 2025.
Identity
Identity
Gavin Bishop is recorded with the occupation picture book writer. Recorded as a citizen of New Zealand.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1946
Gavin Bishop was born on 13 February 1946.
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q26466098: Gavin Bishop
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Gavin Bishop”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Select honours and awards
• 2026 - Finalist for Elsie Locke Award for non-fiction for Taniwha at the 2026 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. • 2022 – Margaret Mahy Book of the Year, the Nonfiction and Illustration awards for Atua • 2018 – Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award for Aotearoa: The New Zealand Story at the New Zealand Children's Book Awards • 2013 – Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Children's Literature. • 2013 – Mallinson Rendel Illustrators Award • 2013, 2000, 1994, 1983 – New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards, winner of the picture book category. • 2010, 2008, 2006, 1982 – LIANZA Russell Clark Medal for Illustration. • 2000 – Margaret Mahy Medal for Services to Children's Literature. • 1984 – Noma Concours for Picture Book Illustrations, Grand Prize.
Select bibliography
• 2025 - Taniwha, 64pp (Penguin) • 2024 – Titiro Look, 36pp (Gecko Press) • 2021 – Atua: Māori gods and heroes, 64pp (Picture Puffin) • 2020 – Mihi, 18pp, (Gecko Press) • 2018 – Cook's Cook Limited Edition, 40pp, (Gecko Press) • 2018 – Cook's Cook, 40pp, (Gecko Press) • 2017 – Aotearoa: The New Zealand Story (Penguin) • 2017 – Helper and Helper, 128pp, (Gecko Press) • 2013 – Mister Whistler, 32pp, (Gecko Press) • 2012 – Koinei te Whare nā Haki i Hanga, 40pp, Māori translation of The House that Jack Built (Gecko Press) • 2012 – The House that Jack Built, 40pp, (Gecko Press) • 2010 – Counting the Stars: Four Maori Myths • 2010 – Friends: Snake & Lizard, Joy Cowley, Gecko Press (illustrator) • 2010 – Cowshed Christmas (illustrator) • 2010 – There Was a Crooked Man • 2009 – Piano Rock: A 1950s Childhood • 2008 – Rats! • 2008 – Snake & Lizard, Gecko Press (illustrator) • 2007 – Riding the Waves: four Maori Myths • 2006 – Te Waka • 2006 – Kiwi Moon • 2005 – Taming the Sun: Four Maori Myths • 2004 – The Three Billy Goats Gruff • 2002 – Tom Thumb • 1982 – Mr. Fox, 32pp, (Oxford University Press)
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Gavin Bishop, revision 1372495594 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Gavin Bishop received Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement (Non-Fiction) and honorary doctor of the University of Canterbury.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Illustration
5,224 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Gaston BogaertIllustrator
- Gaston BussièreIllustrator
- Gaston VuillierIllustrator
- Gauri BhanjaIllustrator
- Geerten Ten BoschIllustrator
- Gege AkutamiIllustrator
- Gelett BurgessIllustrator
- Gen PaulIllustrator
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Gavin Bishop?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.