Craig Smith (author & musician)

Musician/writer Craig Smith was born in Clyde, central Otago in 1972. Shortly after, the family moved to Queenstown where he, his mother and five brothers and sisters grew up. He now lives in Christchurch. As a child he remembers telling his mother, 'when I grow up, I'm going to become a musician', her answer... 'you can't do both!'. She was right!. Although writing songs for the adult arena, Craig couldn't escape his childish side and was soon writing songs for the less mature. In late 2007 he released his first kids album Not Just for Kids. The first track from this album, 'Wonky Donkey', won the APRA NZ Children’s Song of the Year 2008. It was this song, teaming up with illustrator Katz Cowley that he turned into his first children’s book. He is working on turning more of his kid’s songs into books with a CD of the song included in the future.

Booklist:

• The Wonky Donkey illustrated by Katz Cowley (Scholastic 2009).
• Willbee the Bumblebee written with Maureen Thomson, illustrated by Katz Cowley (Scholastic 2010).

Awards:

• New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards 2010 Picture Book finalist and category winner for Children's Choice for The Wonky Donkey.
• New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards 2010 Children's Choice winner for The Wonky Donkey.

Storylines thanks zeald.com for their ongoing support of the Storylines website.