Meet the author

Benji Davies.

Writer & illustrator · United Kingdom

Benji Davies: British picture-book maker behind The Storm Whale, Grandad's Island and the Bizzy Bear board books — painterly, Scandinavian-village-flavoured picture books about quiet emotional weight, for ages 3–7.

Benji Davies is a British author-illustrator best known for The Storm Whale (2013) and its sequels The Storm Whale in Winter and Grandad's Island, quietly emotional picture books with a distinctive painterly, slightly retro visual style and a Scandinavian-fishing-village setting that has become one of his signatures. Davies's work tends to land in the gentle-but-serious end of the picture-book market, often handling loneliness, family change, loss and the comfort of small communities. He also illustrates for other authors (the Bizzy Bear board books) and works in animation. A reliable bedtime and gift-shelf picture-book maker for ages 3–7, with particular strength in emotional weight done lightly.