Tarquin Shaw-Young

Captain Kiwi was written whilst staying in New Zealand and inspired by a five day trek along the breathtaking Queen Charlotte Track which weaves its way through the magical Marlborough Sounds.  Whilst in New Zealand Tarquin worked as an actor and lectured in drama at the University of Auckland. Originally from Somerset, he worked for over 20 years as an actor performing in Film, Television,  Theatre, Radio and as a Voice-over artist. Tarquin now lives in Great Malvern, England, with his wife and two children. He  is a regular visitor to New Zealand. 

He now balances a writing career with running the Stagecoach Agency UK, Europe's largest children's and young performers' agency.

'The book is inspired by  the     multitude of    wildlife that inhabits every corner of New Zealand. Having  witnessed these animals  at first hand  I just knew  that they had to have their own story and so Captain Kiwi was born.'

Meet Nick Crabb - The Illustrator of Captain Kiwi

I've been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember.

Nick studied illustration at the Falmouth School of Art and Design.

Since 1989 he's been working steadily as an illustrator and designer.

He has illustrated a wide variety of subjects from warship manuals to wedding dresses and bespoke designer kitchens. He also spent a few years working as an animator, and trained and worked in America under the great Richard Williams.

As well as professional illustration work, he has taken commissions and exhibited.

He has worked in many different media, but his love is water colour. He simply can not be bothered to wait for oil paint to dry! He's also taken to using egg tempra, just because nobody else does.

His greatest painting passion is portraiture, having always been fascinated by people, and trying to move beyond a simple likeness and put something more substantive on paper is a always a thrill.

Nick lives in what was a small village near Weston-super-mare, with his wife, Anna, and two of their four children, Ed and Verity. The older two, Ellie and Joe, have seemingly grown up. Where did the time go?

See more of Nick's work at http://www.nickcrabb.com/home.htm