Those of you without young kids or grandchildren may not have heard of Owen's Alumnus, Rob Biddulph before, so we are pleased to be introducing him and welcoming him 'back to school' on Sunday 3rd July for a very special, live event at Owen'sFest - Our summer festival held in the school's grounds from 12:00-5:00pm.

Now a bestselling and multi award-winning children's author and illustrator, of course Rob's favourite subject at school was art, and recently he was reunited with Ms Drown, one of his art teachers during his time here at Owen's.

In 2014, Rob's first picture book, Blown Away, was published and became just the second illustrated book in history to win the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. It was later read as a CBeebies Bedtime Story by Scottish actor, Mark Bonnar. 

Rob's second book, GRRRRR! was nominated for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal, and was read as a CBeebies Bedtime Story by former England football player, Chris Kamara in 2019.

Odd Dog Out was third off the press, and was nominated for a total of eight literary prizes, winning the BSC Festival of Literature Picture Book Award and the UKLA Student Shadower’s Vote Book Award. This one was read as a CBeebies Bedtime Story by actor, Tom Hardy, in 2017, the video of which has been streamed over 38,000 times on YouTube alone!

Sunk!, Rob's fourth book, was nominated for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal and shortlisted for The People's Book Award and Oscar's Book Prize. His fifth book, Kevin, was nominated for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal and shortlisted for the BSC Festival of Literature Picture Book Award and the IBW Book Award. His sixth, Happy Hatchday, seventh, Give Peas a Chance, and eighth, Wide Awake, are the first three books in the 'Dinosaur Juniors' series which has made big waves.

Rob's tenth picture book, Dog Gone, was published in September 2020, and his eleventh, An Odd Dog Christmas, which came out in October 2021, was selected as the CBeebies 2021 Christmas Eve Bedtime Story, read again by Tom Hardy.

Most recently, Rob's first middle-grade novel, Peanut Jones was published, and the Illustrated City - published by Pan Macmillan in September 2021 - has become a number one bestseller.

SO, WHAT IS THE 'DRAW WITH ROB' EVENT IN THE EDWARD GUINNESS HALL AT OWEN'S - ON SUNDAY 3 JULY -  ALL ABOUT?

Well, in March 2020, Rob started #DrawWithRob, a series of draw-along videos released twice-weekly online, designed to help parents with children who had been forced to stay home from school due to the national lockdown.

The videos became immensely popular, gaining millions of views and lots of media coverage, and they have now been used as a learning resource by thousands of families and schools across the globe. On 21 May 2020, Rob attempted and broke the Guinness World Record for the largest ever online art class, when 45,611 households tuned in to his live #DrawWithRob YouTube class! And in July 2020 he was named as a 'Point of Light' by the Prime Minister, an award that recognises outstanding individuals who are affecting change in their community.

We are so happy that Rob has agreed to come back to school on 3rd July to deliver a special  #DrawWithRob event for our lower-school students, Owen's Alumni and their families and members of the public in the local area, and we have partnered with The Chorleywood Bookshop escpecially for the occasion.

A wide range of Rob's books - including the Draw With Rob activity books - will be available to purchase and for Rob to sign on the day.

Tickets are just £5 for children and £8 for adults, and they are selling fast, so 

CLICK HERE now, to get yours!