Neal Layton

Neal Layton completed a BA in Graphic Design at Newcastle, and a MA in Illustration at Central Saint Martins, London. He now lives in Portsmouth with his wife and their daughter.

He purposefully uses all sorts of different media to create his illustrations to keep them as fresh and spontaneous as possible and the walls of his studio are covered with pictures, drawings, scribbles, badges and photos.

Neal won the Bronze Nestle Smarties Book Prize in 2002 for Oscar and Arabella and in 2004 for Bartholomew and the Bug. In 2006 he won the prestigious Gold award for That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown written by Cressida Cowell. He has now published the sequels, Emily Brown and the Thing and Emily Brown and the Elephant Emergency.

Neal has also written and illustrated The Mammoth Academy series for older children and the hilarious novelty books, The Story of Everything and The Story of Things for Walker Books.