He’s a multi award-winning Author Illustrator, creating exceptional characters we can’t help but love.

Combining mixed media illustrations with witty storylines, Jarvis’s sense of humour has now travelled much further than his studio — we catch up with Jarvis on the international success his books have gained in the last few years, and where it all started.

Book covers by Jarvis, author and illustrator of Alan’s Big Scary Teeth, Mrs Mole I’m Home and Tropical Terry, Pick a Pine Tree (all published with Walker), Hello Hot Dog! (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books), Lazy Dave and Fred Forgets (Harper Collins), Poles Apart written by Jeanne Willis (Nosy Crow) Odds Bods — written by Steven Butler (Puffin) and Ready Set Build (US publisher, Little Bee Books).

Although writing and illustrating is his full time job, Jarvis hopes one day that Coldplay will need him to play guitar for them. While he waits for musical rockstardom to arrive, he’s been busy making books for kids and becoming a rockstar within the publishing arena — and we think you’ll agree, he’s doing a pretty good job…

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Publishing Hightlights To Date…

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Alan’s Big Scary Teeth

In 2017, Jarvis won the coveted V&A Award

Alan bagged a spot on the front of The New York Times as well as a top review: “Alan’s chompers terrify everyone, though they’re a bit suspiciously plump and gleaming. Soon enough he’s exposed to his fellow jungle residents — and to shocked readers — as a fake-toothed phony. The witty Jarvis (“Lazy Dave”) makes all the right moves, drawing Alan’s jungle world with his usual loose, jagged charm.”

The book featured in 600,000 Bookstart packs across the UK and won A Charlotte Zolotow honored book in the US. You can check out a more extensive list of Jarvis’ awards and top reviews on his profile page and his website.

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Odd Bods

“Butler‘s punchy rhyme is supported effortlessly by Jarvis‘s almost luminous palette. Inspired use of block colour backgrounds and vibrant pops of colour make for an engaging read. Coupled with the jaunty cadence of this ditty, these two elements carry the reader through this humorous song-like tale with ease.” Picturebook Blogger

Written by Steven Butler, this title shows off Jarvis’ collaborative brilliance: with a 5 star Telegraph review, it was awarded a Bronze winner of The Junior Design Awards and nominated for THE CILIP Kate Greenaway.

When asked how how the pairing came about, writter Steven said:

“I was first introduced to Jarvis’ work by my editor at Puffin. When I wrote Odd Bods, we spent a lot of time looking for illustrators that could capture the mischief of the piece, and Jarvis was the perfect choice.”

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Lazy Dave, Fred Forgets and Mrs Mole

With Fred Forgets featured in The Original Art annual exhibition at The Society of Ilustrators NYC, and his earliest title Lazy Dave Nominated for the Read It Again book prize. As well as countless coeditions across his titles, ranging from France to Japan.

Now with exciting media deals on the horizon for some of these titles, to be announced soon!

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A chat with the man behind the books — his inspirations and challenges:

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We had the pleasure of asking Jarvis some work related (and a few just-for-fun) questions…

So first of all, what made you decide to primarily go by your last name instead of your full name, Peter Jarvis? And do most people just call you Jarvis now?

I like Jarvis. Some people call me Jarvis, some call me Pete, my girlfriend Jenna calls me PJ…and some people call me much worse.

What made you decide to become an illustrator?

When I was 15 I got it in my head I would do art, go to university, move to London and then I would make album covers for bands. Then the real dream was that a huge band would invite me to join them. 90% of this happened…but I’m not yet a member of Coldplay. Still time…

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Which of your own books did you enjoy working on the most and how do you come up with your ideas?

The part I enjoy the most is that first scribble of an idea, the squiggle of who a character is.

Everything else from that point isn’t enjoyable, it resembles more of a maze – trying out different routes, going back, starting again, trying something else, finding a dead end… until I finally make it out alive. But there are enjoyable bits along the way! If I do an image I love, I just stare at it for ages, or if I tie up the ending of a story really well, I can relaaaax.

A few days before handing in my book Alan’s Big Scary Teeth (Walker), my studio was burgled and everything was taken – my computer, back-ups, scanner, lightbox, everything! I didn’t have it backed up online, so I had lost the entire book. It all seems like a bad dream now, but I had to re-do the entire book from scratch. So I can’t say I enjoyed that but I’m impressed that I was able to just re-do it and in many parts it was better. The irony is that the plot of the book is about stealing!

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Quick: Desert Island Discs. What are the eight records you would take? You can also choose one luxury item to take with you.

I would take eight Beatles albums, and then my luxury item would be a phone with Spotify on it.

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What’s your ideal holiday?

I like to do very little, with great food and just Jenna.

Do you play a musical instrument? I play the guitar badly, you can hear me on the Lazy Dave trailer…

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What was your favourite book as a little boy? I used to be obsessed with the Beano comic. I have read the same Bash Street Kids comics 100 times.

Where did you grow up? I grew up in a seaside town in Wales. My mum and dad used to go there on holiday as children, and then when I was born they moved there.

In 2015 we asked Jarvis: What else have you been working on recently?

He said: I’ve illustrated a book called Poles Apart, authored by Jeanne Willis, that’s published in the UK with Nosy Crow in October ‘15.

Another quick glance at the collage of book covers by Jarvis above says it all; in 3 years a lot of development and wonderful publishing deals can be made. His consistent sales both in the UK and abroad are a testiment of what can be acheived, and the awards won a recognition of his writing and illustration skills.

There is no doubt that at the heart of every success story, there has to be a brilliant attitude — even when your artwork is stolen just before a deadline!

That phone call from Coldplay had better wait… Jarvis is busy rocking the publishing world.

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Jarvis’ portfolio is available to view here.

Visit his Instagram, Twitter and Website.

To work with Jarvis, please contact his agent, Arabella Stein.