AustLit

Peter Pavey hails from Melbourne where he studied graphic design at Swinburne Institute of Technology. Feeling that he didn't have the personality to cope with the advertising world, he turned to such jobs as abalone sheller, factory cleaner, and milkman, where he met an artist Ron Brooks whom he credits with partially inspiring him to illustrate children's books. His black and white illustrations appeared in Olaf Ruhen's The Day of the Diprotodon (1976) which he executed whilst temporarily living in New Zealand. Since then he has written and illustrated his own books, three of which have won awards. He has also illustrated texts in other languages for the Education Department of Victoria. In McVitty (1989), he is quoted as saying that he wants "to entertain children and probably teach then how to aappreciate nice things and perhaps look at animals".