Rumbidzai Savanhu author page

Rumbidzai Savanhu biography

Rumbidzai Savanhu is an illustrator and writer whose work includes children’s publishing, editorial illustration and commissions for charities and healthcare organisations. She is an alumna of the Pathways Into programme for illustrators entering children’s publishing and was selected for B3 Media’s TalentLab XR programme in 2022.

Savanhu illustrated Rachel Faturoti’s children’s novel Sadé and Her Shadow Beasts, published by Hodder Children’s Books in 2022. The story follows twelve-year-old Sadé, who creates an imaginary world while dealing with the death of her mother, but finds that frightening creatures from that world begin intruding upon her everyday life. The book was shortlisted in the Children’s category of the 2023 Diverse Book Awards.

She later illustrated TEN Children Who Changed The World, written by actor and author Paterson Joseph and published by Wren & Rook in September 2025. The nonfiction book introduces ten people as children and explores how their later actions challenged slavery and helped secure greater freedom for others. Among those featured are Phillis Wheatley, Ira Frederick Aldridge, Dido Elizabeth Belle, John Edmonstone, William Cuffay and Mary Prince.

TEN Children Who Changed The World was shortlisted for The Week Junior Book Awards 2026.