Port Chalmers author and illustrator David Elliot illustrated Wellington-based Joy Cowley's Chicken Feathers, which was released last year. The book is a finalist in the junior fiction category of this year's NZ Post Book Awards.
A full-time author and illustrator since 1998, Elliot said working with Cowley on the book was rewarding.
‘‘It was interesting because both Joy and I were working for Penguin [publishing company] in the United States, who originally commissioned the book, and then it got released here.
‘‘It was nice to be included in the book. It was the first time I've had the opportunity to work with Joy - she writes beautifully and I've admired her work for a long time.''
Elliot, who is originally from Ashburton but has lived in Port Chalmers for the past 20 years, is no stranger to the NZ Post Book Awards.
His 2002 book Pigtails the Pirate won an NZ Post Book Award for best picture book, and an earlier publication, Sydney and the Sea Monster, won an honour award.
However, he was probably best known for his work on UK author Brian Jacques' Redwal series of teen fiction books, he said.
He is at present working on the illustrations for one of his own books.
‘‘It is a bit of a homecoming to work on my own ideas, and this is probably the first time I've really dug into my childhood and living on the Canterbury Plains.''
