Lynley Dodd

Dame Lynley Stuart Dodd (born 5 July 1941) is a New Zealand children's book author and illustrator. She is best known for her Hairy Maclary and Friends series, and its follow-ups, all of which feature animals with rhyming names and have sold over five million copies worldwide. In 1999, Dodd received the Margaret Mahy Award.

She was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2002 New Year Honours, redesignated as a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009.

Life and career

Dodd was born in Rotorua in 1941. She was an only child and lived with her parents in Kaingaroa Forest, near Taupō. She was educated at Iwitahi School and Tauranga College. Dodd graduated from the Elam School of Art in Auckland with a diploma in Fine Arts, and became an art teacher spending five years teaching at Queen Margaret College in Wellington. While there she met her husband Tony; he died in 2014 after an illness. After their marriage she began to work as a freelance illustrator. Her first book was My Cat Likes To Hide In Boxes, published in 1974, which she wrote along with Eve Sutton. Her first book written solo was The Nickle Nackle Tree (1976).

In 1983 the first book in her Hairy Maclary series, Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy, was published. It was followed by Hairy Maclary’s Bone (1984), Hairy Maclary Scattercat (1985), Hairy Maclary's Caterwaul Caper (1987), Hairy Maclary's Rumpus at the Vet (1989) and Hairy Maclary's Showbusiness (1991). The first, third, fourth and sixth of these all won the New Zealand Children's Picture Book of the Year Award; the second and fifth were shortlisted but did not win. In 1997, Dodd was the screenwriter for a TV series based on the Hairy Maclary series featuring 10 five-minute episodes narrated by Miranda Harcourt. In 2005 her book The Other Ark won the Children’s Choice Award at the New Zealand Post Book Awards. In 2015 a waterfront sculpture of Hairy Maclary and other characters from the books was officially unveiled in Tauranga by former New Zealand prime minister John Key. In an episode of the TVNZ series Goodnight Kiwi, airing on 25 December 2019, the prime minister Jacinda Ardern read Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy. As of 2019 Dodd lived in Tauranga.

Honours and awards

In 1990, Dodd was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. In 1999, she became the ninth recipient of the Margaret Mahy Award. She was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2002 New Year Honours, for services to children's literature and book illustration. Following the re-introduction of titular honours by the New Zealand government, she accepted redesignation as a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009. In 2024 she received the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement.

Books

1973 – My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes

1976 – The Nickle Nackle Tree

1978 – Titimus Trim

1982 – The Apple Tree

1982 – The Smallest Turtle

1983 – Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy

1984 – Hairy Maclary's Bone

1985 – Hairy Maclary Scattercat

1986 – Wake Up, Bear

1987 – Hairy Maclary's Caterwaul Caper

1988 – A Dragon In A Wagon

1989 – Hairy Maclary's Rumpus at the Vet

1990 – Slinky Malinki

1991 – Find Me A Tiger

1991 – Hairy Maclary's Showbusiness

1992 – The Minister's Cat ABC

1993 – Slinky Malinki, Open The Door

1994 – Schnitzel von Krumm's Basketwork

1995 – Sniff-Snuff-Snap!

1996 – Schnitzel von Krumm Forget-Me-Not

1997 – Hairy Maclary, Sit

1998 – Slinky Malinki Catflaps

1999 – Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack

2000 – Hedgehog Howdedo

2001 – Scarface Claw

2002 – Schnitzel von Krumm, Dogs Never Climb Trees

2004 – The Other Ark

2005 – Zachary Quack Minimonster

2006 – Where is Hairy Maclary?

2006 – Slinky Malinki's Christmas Crackers

2007 – Hairy Maclary's Hat Tricks

2008 – The Dudgeon is Coming

2009 – Hairy Maclary, Shoo

2012 – Slinky Malinki, Early Bird

2017 – Scarface Claw, Hold Tight!

2025 – Hairy Maclary's First 100 Words

2026 – Hairy Maclary's Hullabaloo