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Toby Morris



Toby Morris is an award-winning illustrator, cartoonist and art director known for the successful non-fiction comic series The Side Eye on the Spinoff and The Pencilsword on RNZ. With Toby Manhire, he is half of the Toby & Toby duo.
He has written several children's books including Capsicum, Capsi Go, The Day The Costumes Stuck, Don’t Puke On Your Dad and the graphic novel Te Tiriti O Waitangi and developed artwork for musicians including The Beths, Beastwars, Neil and Liam Finn, Ladyhawke and Phoenix Foundation, and diverse brands including Allbirds, L&P, Good George - even the Edmonds Baking Powder box! In 2020, his informative series of collaborations about Covid-19 with Dr Siouxsie Wiles were shared around the world and he has twice won the Voyager award for Cartoonist of the Year at the New Zealand Media Awards 2019 and 2024.

Books by Toby Morris

Locked Down

Jesse O's award-winning novel about a deadly pandemic and a family in lockdown, rereleased with all new illustrations by Toby Morris.

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The Spinoff Book

New and exclusive writing plus the very best of the past 5 years from the award-winning The Spinoff, New Zealand's hilarious, original, must-read media website.

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Dad Man Walking

The ups and downs of dad life, as drawn by award-winning cartoonist Toby Morris.

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More features

Article
Locked Down: Real Reader Reviews

We wanted to know what young Kiwi readers thought about Jesse O's book Locked Down (hint: they loved it!). Read on to see their reviews.

Article
Locked Down: A note from the author

When Jesse O wrote Locked Down (then titled Staying Home) back in 2011, she never imagined that almost a decade later, the events of her novel would prove spookily accurate . . .

Article
A sneak peek at our 2021 kids books!

After an exhausting and unusual 2020, we’ve got plenty of reasons to be grateful for a new year, not least because of the stellar line up of children’s books we have coming your way over the next few months!Read on for a sneak peek at some of the best new children’s books we’re bringing to you in 2021.