William Grill

William Grill
Born1990 (age 34–35)
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity College Falmouth
Websitewilliamgrill.co.uk

William Grill is a British illustrator, whose first children's book, Shackleton's Journey,[1] depicting Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2015.

His second book is titled The Wolves of Currumpaw, and is based on the story "Lobo the King of Currumpaw," (from Wild Animals I Have Known) by naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton.[2]

Biography

Grill grew up in rural Hampshire[3] and worked on a farm as a young adult, experiences which have influenced his art and writing.[2] He graduated from University College Falmouth, is dyslexic, and runs a weekly art club at a local school.[4][5]

Awards and honors

Two of Grill's books are Junior Library Guild selections: The Wolves of Currumpaw (2016)[6] and Earth Verse (2018).[7] In 2014, The New York Times named Shackleton's Journey one of the best illustrated books of the year.[8][9] The Wolves of Currumpaw received a starred review from Publishers Weekly,[10] and Bandoola received a starred review from Booklist.[11]

When Grill won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2015 at age 24 for Shackleton's Journey, he was the youngest person to have earned the award since 1960.[12] In addition to the Greenaway Medal, Grill won the Colin Mears Award.[12]

Awards for Grill's books
Year Title Award Result Ref.
2015 Shackleton's Journey Kate Greenaway Medal Winner [13][12]
School Library Association Information Book Award Winner [14]
2016 The Wolves of Currumpaw Cybils Award for Elementary and Middle Grade Graphic Novel Finalist [15]
2017 Bolognaragazzi Award Winner [6]
Kate Greenaway Medal Shortlist [16]
Spur Award for Best Western Juvenile Nonfiction Winner [17]
2018 Zilveren Penseel Winner

Publications

As author and illustrator

  • Shackleton's Journey (2014, Flying Eye Books, ISBN 978-1-909263-10-9)
  • Shackleton's Journey Activity Book (2015, Flying Eye Books, ISBN 978-1-909263-80-2)
  • The Wolves of Currumpaw (2016, Flying Eye Books, ISBN 978-1-909263-83-3)
  • Bandoola: The Great Elephant Rescue (2022, Flying Eye Books, ISBN 978-1-83874-023-8)

As illustrator only

References

  1. ^ London: Flying Eye Books. ISBN 978-1-909263-10-9
  2. ^ a b Gilmore, Natasha (7 July 2016). "Q & A with William Grill". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  3. ^ "The Wolves of Currumpaw". Caught by the River. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  4. ^ Daniel, Lucy (27 June 2015). "Why a picture book about Ernest Shackleton marks a publishing revolution". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  5. ^ "True historical stories inspire Carnegie and Greenaway winners". BBC News. 15 June 2015. Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  6. ^ a b "The Wolves of Currumpaw by William Grill". Junior Library Guild . Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Earth Verse: Haiku from the Ground Up by Sally M. Walker". Junior Library Guild. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  8. ^ "New York Times Best Illustrated Books of 2014". Shelf Awareness. 31 October 2014. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  9. ^ "New York Times Best Illustrated Awards Announced". Publishers Weekly. 30 October 2014. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  10. ^ "The Wolves of Currumpaw". Publishers Weekly. 13 June 2016. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  11. ^ Chaudhri, Amina (1 March 2022). "Bandoola: The Great Elephant Rescue". Booklist. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  12. ^ a b c Eccleshare, Julia (22 June 2015). "Landman, Grill Win 2015 Carnegie, Greenaway Medals in U.K." Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  13. ^ "Awards: CILIP Carnegie, Kate Greenaway; Warwick". Shelf Awareness. 23 June 2015. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  14. ^ Barker, Molly (11 November 2015). "Shackleton and New York books win School Library Association non-fiction prize". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  15. ^ "2016 Cybils Finalists". Children's and Young Adult Book Lover's Literary Awards. Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  16. ^ "2017 Shortlist Resources". Carnegie Greenway. Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  17. ^ "WWA announces 2017 Spur Award winners". Western Writers of America. 11 March 2017. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2023.