Kia ora e hoa!
Come and I’ll tell you a bit about me and my books.
I’ve been drawing pictures and writing stories since I was a kid.
I used to make books about undersea adventures, or sailing around Antarctica, and I loved making elaborate comic-diaries. I could stay busy for hours as long as I had a pencil and some paper and a great idea in my head.
When I was a baby my family lived in Dunedin on Baldwin Street — it’s the steepest residential street in the world! Then, when I was two, we moved to Taupō and our house backed onto a massive 50 metre cliff that dropped straight into the Waikato River. The place where I grew up is now the Taupō Bungee Jump! At school I was a top competitive sailor and windsurfer, but the thing I always loved most was drawing and doodling.
Today I still live in Taupō beside the great lake. Now I make books as my full-time job.
I’ve made over 130 books, so there’s plenty of Donovan Bixley books for all ages and tastes – and of course all of my books are jam-packed with colourful fun illustrations.
Check out my most popular titles on the books page. Or find out more about my most recent book below.
Check out my latest book!
If you like a bit of history mixed with fantasy check out my book Leonardo’s Dragon – it’s five far-flung dragon tales set around the true story of Leonardo da Vinci and his pet dragon!
Check out my how to draw videos , along with behind the scenes of some of my books, interviews, and some awesome book trailers.
Latest News
Check out my FREE resources.
Download some cool posters, colour-in sheets, activities and parent/teacher notes to help you discover more within my books.
Popular Series
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The Looky Book Series
Come on a tiki tour around New Zealand and see what fun and crazy things you can spot along the way
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The Great Kiwi Series
Join kiwi for the greatest ABC, 123, and bedtime book in Aotearoa
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Nursery Rhymes for Aotearoa
Nursery rhymes with a kiwi twist
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Colouring Books
Colour in the bestselling Kiwi classics
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Donovan Bixley’s Aotearoa
Find out what makes the flora and fauna of Aotearoa so unique in this charming series
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Flying Furballs Series
A Purr-fectly thrilling tale of heroic cats and daring dogfights in this chapter book adventure series
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Biographies of the Great Artists
The illustrated journeys of history’s most brilliant minds
