Vaughan Duck
Illustrator of Children’s Fiction
based in SA
Vaughan has a Bachelor of Arts (Visual Communication) which means he is qualified to be an art director at an advertising agency, but he hates advertising and loves drawing pictures. As a child, he learned to draw by copying Peanuts characters. As a uni student, he was introduced to picture book illustration by Ron Brooks. Ron encouraged the class to enter an illustration competition. As a result, Vaughan’s first picture book, The Ant Explorer, was shortlisted for the Lothian Centenary Children’s Picture Book Award. That’s right! He didn’t win, so he can’t claim to be an award-winning illustrator. But he can claim to be a hugely successful illustrator.
Vaughan loves drawing pictures that make kids giggle. In 2020 he illustrated Big Beach BBQ, published by Larrikin House. Facing the Wave quickly followed in 2022. Without knowing it, kids throughout Australia have grown up with Vaughan’s illustrations because he’s illustrated over 300 textbooks and readers for educational publishers. He specializes in illustrating picture books, junior, and middle-grade readers.
Vaughan collaborates with authors and publishers worldwide. Recently, he partnered with The Barbara Bush Literary Foundation and his US publisher, MamaBear Books. As a result, his books, The Day I Had a Bulldozer and The Day I Had a Dinosaur, have been distributed to over 49,000 children across Texas.
2025 will see the release of The Day I Had a Fire Truck.
Before he became mega-famous, he designed toys (so much fun) and kids’ lunch boxes and backpacks.
