Oliver Jeffers author page

Oliver Jeffers biography

Oliver Jeffers is an artist and picture-book creator whose work ranges from figurative painting and installation to illustration. He was born in Australia and brought up in Northern Ireland. His first picture book was How to Catch a Star, and 2024 marked 20 years since its publication.

His picture books include Lost and Found, How to Catch a Star, This Moose Belongs to Me and The Day the Crayons Quit, which was written by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Jeffers. He also collaborated with Sam Winston on A Child of Books and The Dictionary Story; A Child of Books won the Bologna Ragazzi Award.

Lost and Found won the Nestlé Gold Medal, and The Incredible Book Eating Boy won the Irish Picture Book of the Year. The Way Back Home was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal. An animated film based on Lost and Found won the BAFTA for Best Animation in 2009.

Jeffers created What We’ll Build: Plans for Our Together Future, a HarperCollins Children’s Books picture book published in 2020 for readers aged 4 to 5. He was awarded an MBE in 2022 for services to the arts.

In 2024, Where to Hide a Star brought back the Boy and the Penguin characters in a new picture book in that series.

Oliver Jeffers teaching resources

• Oliver Jeffers’ official website is the best starting point for author and illustrator information, book details, news, exhibitions, artwork and background material for author study.
• Oliver Jeffers’ official speaker page gives event organisers information about his talks on creativity, curiosity, humour, writing, illustration and the process behind his books and visual art.
• Oliver Jeffers’ official YouTube channel includes story-related videos, read-aloud material, book trailers, interviews and drawing or making clips that can support picture-book work, author study and classroom discussion.
• HarperReach’s Here We Are teacher resources provide downloadable worksheets for class or group use, with activities linked to Oliver Jeffers’ introduction to planet Earth, kindness, people, place and how we live together.
• HarperReach’s The Fate of Fausto teaching resources include teacher notes and downloadable activity sheets for work on fable, ownership, environmental responsibility, debate, a mock court case and newspaper-report writing.
• Teachwire’s A Child of Books KS2 resource provides a three-page PDF of cross-curricular activity ideas for Years 3-6, using Sam Winston and Oliver Jeffers’ picture book to explore reading identity, storytelling, illustration, typography and the purpose of books.