Steve surprising Secondary School Librarians with an illustration of them for the 2024 spring cover of the SLA’s The School Librarian magazine at a fundraising event at CLPE, London.
Steve’s mission is to help create opportunities to highlight the valuable library services which already exist and make children’s books more accessible in fun and inventive ways.
He is Swindon Libraries Patron to Children’s Reading Services and has worked with and supported literacy charities including the UK’s National Literacy Trust.
In recognition of his support for School Libraries Steve was named School Library Association’s ‘School Libraries Champion’. His cover illustrations for the SLA’s quarterly magazine, The School Librarian, pay tribute to real-life School Librarians.
Over the past ten years Steve Antony (born 14th May 1976) has written and illustrated 22 picture books, which have been translated in over 23 languages, including the award-winning and bestselling ‘The Queen’s Hat’ and the ‘Mr Panda’ series, which has sold over 1.4 million copies worldwide. During the UK’s first national lockdown in 2020, readings of Please Mr Panda were being uploaded to YouTube around the globe every 2-3 hours. More recently Steve wrote and illustrated Rainbowsaurus about a two-dad family who venture to find the colourful dino, which won the title of the School Reading List Best Picture Book 2024 and is nominated for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration (his 8th nomination for the award).
Steve has also illustrated (but not written) 5 picture books including the all-new Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (written by Peter Bently) and adapted two songs from Tim Minchin’s Matilda the Musical into picture books: When I Grow Up and Sometimes You Have To Be A Little Bit Naughty. Steve collaborated with Alexandra Strick and a group of children to create ‘You Can! - Kids Empowering Kids’ and ‘We Can - Make A Difference’ and contributed work towards LGBTQ+ anthology Proud, Drawing Europe Together and Kind. Steve was chosen to illustrate the cover for the 70th anniversary edition of Famous Five: Five Have A Wonderful Time.
Steve regularly holds creative writing workshops for children (and adults) including SEN schools, hospital schools and recently took part in a creative workshop for inmates at Wandsworth Prison. Steve has mentored two aspiring Authors and Illustrators on a one-to-one basis over the course of two years as part of the Picture Hooks Mentorship Programme: Anders Frang who has since published 6 children’s books and Clare Andrews who was recently signed by Literary Agent Lorna Hemingway at Bell Lomax Moreton.
Steve lives in Swindon with his husband and two rescue cats but grew up in New Mexico and often talks at schools about his experience of living in the desert and regularly visiting his local Public Library for inspiration. After taking redundancy from a Swindon call-centre in 2010, Steve pursued his long-held dream of becoming an Author and Illustrator. Steve is red-green colour-blind and has campaigned alongside Colour Blind Awareness to raise awareness of the condition in schools. His 2022 colour-blind activity for schools was featured on BBC News.
One of two lamppost banner illustrations for the National Literacy Trust
In 2018 the National Literacy Trust launched a hub in Swindon to tackle low literacy in the area. Steve has supported the hub by designing flyers, illustrating two large lamppost banners for the town centre and by visiting schools in Swindon. In 2019 Steve joined HM Queen Camilla at an awards ceremony in Swindon North Library for a Swindon Stories schools competition inspired by The Lost Words by Jackie Morris and Robert Macfarlane. Steve has also supported the NLT’s nationwide campaigns and competitions, including their ‘Local Heroes’ writing competition during the pandemic, their ongoing Connecting Stories campaign, WH Smith’s Ultimate Writing Challenge and in 2022 he showed a record-breaking 63,600 children how to draw Queen Elizabeth II for the NLT’s online Jubilee event, presented by Holly King-Mand. Press here for more on Steve’s work with the NLT.
Judging entries for his 2022 creative completion: Make Your Own Robot
In his role as Patron to Swindon Libraries Children's Reading Services Steve regularly meets with Outreach Librarian Deborah Jackson to brainstorm ideas for events and competitions. Every year he launches an annual creative competition (now in its 10th year) for library members in the Borough of Swindon, which has attracted 1000s of entries. He also designed their children’s library card. In 2022 Swindon Libraries named a day after Steve Antony. ‘Steve Antony Day’ now takes place every June across all 14 libraries within the Borough of Swindon. For ‘Steve Antony Day’, Steve carries out a whistle stop tour of all the libraries - each library is filled with fun activities to mark the day. Press here for more on Steve’s work with Swindon Libraries.
Arlo holding a Swindon Libraries Children’s Library Card. Photo credit: Thomas Kelsey
In 2010 Steve heard out about the Children’s Illustration MA course at Angla Ruskin University from Illustrator, Simon Wild, and decided to apply (Steve and Simon were part of a small art collective, Boys Who Draw). In 2013 Steve graduated with a Distinction and several dummy picture books including The Queen’s Hat, Green Lizards Vs Red Rectangles and Would You Like a Doughnut (which became Please Mr Panda). Steve was snapped up by publishers at his graduation show. What seemed like an overnight success story was in fact the culmination of years of work, rejections, self-belief and a touch of luck.
Steve returned to Cavendish Primary School after his 2024 Libraries tour to paint them a mural.
From cake raffles to art auctions, with every book launch Steve holds a fundraiser. Over the years he has raised thousands for various charities. Through his work as an Author and Illustrator he has supported the National Literacy Trust, Coram Beanstalk, My AFK, PAMIS, Three Peas, DEC Ukraine Appeal, The Willow Foundation, Read For Good and CLPE. His Queen’s Hat inspired Shaun the Sheep statue sold at auction for £15,000 in aid of Wallace and Gromit’s Children’s Charity in 2015.
In February 2024 Steve embarked on a self-funded, voluntary monthlong UK tour of School and Public Libraries in disadvantaged areas to not only mark his 10th year as a published Author and Illustrator but to thank librarians and celebrate their libraries. He chose libraries (both school and public) across 13 villages, towns and cities from a list of over 100 schools and libraries who responded to his ‘call for submissions’ in late 2023. From Reading to Stockport, when listed in order the first letter of each location spell out the word RAINBOWSAURUS. He announced the libraries tour at a fundraising event he organised at CLPE (and in aid of CLPE) in London which also marked the publication of his 24th picture book Rainbowsaurus. Steve’s first stop on the tour was Cavendish Primary School in Reading where he painted them a mural of Rainbowsaurus.
Steve also created a free downloadable Rainbowsaurus Libraries Trail in 2024. Helen, the Senior Library Customer Services Assistant at Finchampstead Library in Wokingham said, “The Rainbowsaurus Trail has been amazing! It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. I’ve already had to copy more sheets and we only put it up yesterday afternoon.”
This is the third Libraries Trail Steve has created. His 2022 ‘Queen’s Hat Trail’ was listed in The i Newspaper’s top 50 UK Platinum Jubilee Activities.
Below is a gallery of photos from Steve’s last 10 years as a published writer and illustrator. Further below is a list of all Steve Antony’s books to date. You can follow Steve Antony’s tours, campaigns and picture book-making on Instagram, here. You can also find him on Facebook. If you would like to contact Steve, go here.
Steve Antony is represented by Emily Talbot and Jodie Hodges at United Agents.
BookS STEVE ANTONY has written and illustrated
RAINBOWSAURUS - Nominated for the Carnegie Medal For Illustration (previously the Kate Greenaway Medal), Junior Design Awards 2024 Bronze Medal for Best Picture Book, Shortlisted for the School Reading List Award’s Children’s Picture Book of the Year
AMAZING - Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal 2020, Shortlisted for the Booktrust Storytime Prize, Nominated on the International List of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities by The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY)
UNPLUGGED - Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal 2019
GREEN LIZARDS VS RED RECTANGLES - Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal 2017, Longlisted for the UKLA (UK Literary Association) 2017 Award
GREEN LIZARDS, RED RECTANGLES AND THE BLUE BALL - Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal 2020
THE QUEEN'S HAT - Won the Oscars Book Prize, Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Prize, Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal 2015, Shortlisted for the 'Read it Again' Award, Shortlisted for the Sheffield's Children's Book Award, Shortlisted for the Coventry Inspiration Book Awards, Adapted into a LSO concert
THE QUEEN'S HANDBAG
THE QUEEN'S PRESENT
THE QUEEN'S LIFT-OFF
PLEASE, MR PANDA - Longlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal 2016, Winner of the Oxfordshire Book Awards (picture book category), Winner of the Early Years Niagara Literary Award, Longlisted for the UKLA (UK Literary Association) 2016 Award, Shortlisted for the Nottingham Children's Book Award 2016, Gold Star Award from NAPPA (National Parenting Publications Awards), Picture Book of the Month at Barnes & Noble, Honoured by Society Of Illustrators
I'LL WAIT, MR PANDA
THANK YOU, MR PANDA
GOODNIGHT, MR PANDA - Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal 2019
WE LOVE YOU, MR PANDA
WASH YOUR HANDS, MR PANDA
MR PANDA'S COLOURS
MR PANDA'S FEELINGS
BETTY GOES BANANAS - Shortlisted for the Nottingham Children's Book Award 2015
BETTY GOES BANANAS IN HER PYJAMAS - Shortlisted for the Dundee Book Award
MONSTER IN THE HOOD - Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal 2017, Shortlisted for the St.Helens Schools Library Service Book Awards 2017
Books STEVE ANTONY HAS illustrated but not written
FAMOUS FIVE: FIVE HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME (cover art)
TIM MINCHIN'S WHEN I GROW UP
TIM MINCHIN’S SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO BE A LITTLE BIT NAUGHTY
IAN FLEMING’S CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG adapted by Peter Bently
YOU CAN! written by Alexandra Strick and a team of children
WE CAN! written by Alexandra Strick and a team of children