Ben Wood
Ben Wood is the illustrator of best-selling crime-fighting series Real Pigeons with Andrew McDonald, which is currently being adapted by Nickelodeon for the screen. He has illustrated over fifty books for kids, which include the popular graphic novel series Hello Twigs, and picture books Give Me a Home Among the Gumtrees and Blast Off!
His books have been shortlisted for many awards, including the Australian Book Industry Awards, Children’s Book Council of Australia, and the Readings Children’s Book Prize. He lives in Naarm/Melbourne.
Meet the Speaker
Where were you born?
I was born in Melbourne but grew up in South Gippsland surrounded by bush and farmland. It was a great place to grow up as it helped fuel my imagination!
What have been the highlights of your career?
Working in collaboration with author Andrew McDonald has been a highlight. Teamwork is FUN! And I love to speak about this in my presentations. Andrew and I have created the junior fiction series Real Pigeons and graphic novel series Hello Twigs together. We have also created www.realpigeons.com which is jam-packed full of writing and drawing activities for kids and families. We also have updates there about our upcoming live shows.
What are you passionate about?
Teaching students about visual storytelling (such as comics) is something I’m very passionate about! Within my sessions I teach students how to problem solve though drawing. We have a lot of fun!
What themes are recurring in your work?
I love funny and heartfelt stories about teamwork, found families, friendship, and the search for identity.
Anything else you’d like to share with us?
I love eating! And when I’m not eating, I like to talk about eating- and food! Some of my favourite foods are tacos, sushi, burritos, green spaghetti and raspberries. Yum!
In the media:
Guardian article:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jul/08/crime-fighting-pigeons-take-flight-to-hollywood
Deadline article:
https://deadline.com/2020/07/james-corden-real-pigeons-fight-crime-nickelodeon-1202979034/
Photo credit: Alan Moyle
Sessions
Creating a Visual Story
There are a lot of steps involved in creating illustrations for a story. But where do you start? In this fun and...
Drawing a Story
Creating a story can be hard. Drawing pictures for a story can be too! What does the character look like? Where does the...
Illustration Workshop
There are a lot of steps involved in creating illustrations for a story. But where do you start? In this fun and...
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