I’m a cartoonist and writer, based in Lyttelton, New Zealand. I draw cartoons about what it's like living here and my reasons to be cheerful. They have appeared in various places including GoComics.com. You can buy Reasons to be Cheerful as a book.

I used to work in the pharmaceutical industry until I had a bit of a meltdown in 1999. I became a professional cartoonist then, but my biochemistry background has helped me work with Australia’s CSIRO on their science magazines for kids. I draw a comic for them called Jack & Joni and the Time-Travelling Shed. I like spelling “travelling” with two l’s. My computer doesn’t.

When I was a kid, I dreamt about becoming a syndicated cartoonist and that dream was realised in 2007 when King Features started distributing my comic strip. I’m still drawing that daily cartoon strip over a decade on and it is still my dream job, even if the newspaper industry isn't what it once was. Arctic Circle is about three immigrant penguins living with a polar bear and other characters. It has an underlying environmental theme, as it is a topic that has been close to my heart ever since I was old enough to switch off the lights. 

Another topic that is important to me is bullying. I have written a series of middle grade books about kids standing up to bullies [FAB (Friends Against Bullying) Club].

Younger children might enjoy Hoover the Hungry Dog.

I also write silly books like Forget Kids – Get a Dog.

And I wrote a book about our time living in northern Spain called A Basque Diary .

I have largely given up antisocial media, but send out illustrated emails and post notes (like X/twitter, but civilised) on Substack. Join our community here: https://alexhallatt.substack.com.

I occasionally do freelance work on interesting projects. If you have one of those, you can email me@alexhallatt.com. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Alex