David O’Connell author page

David O’Connell biography

David O’Connell is a writer and illustrator of children’s books whose work spans picture books, early fiction, and middle grade series. He is the creator of the comic-fueled chapter-book series Monster & Chips (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2013–2014), which introduced readers to Fuzzby’s monster diner through titles including Monster and Chips, Night of the Living Bread, and Food Fright.

O’Connell co-created the picture book Jampires with Sarah McIntyre, first published in the UK by David Fickling Books in 2014 and later in the US. As a middle grade author, he wrote the trilogy The Dundoodle Mysteries for Bloomsbury: The Chocolate Factory Ghost (2018), The Dentist of Darkness (2019), and The Revenge of the Invisible Giant (2020), illustrated by Claire Powell.

He is also the author of The Smidgens series (Bloomsbury, from 2021), illustrated by Seb Burnett, which follows tiny people on large adventures. In addition to writing, O’Connell illustrates for other authors; his ongoing illustration work includes Pip Bird’s popular chapter-book program The Naughtiest Unicorn (HarperCollins Children’s Books).

Across these projects, O’Connell works in humorous, adventure-led storytelling for young readers, collaborating with major publishers on titles for classrooms, libraries, and families.