David grew up in London with various siblings and a selection of animals (the dog is probably worth a mention). His father was a sculptor and David remembers watching him work and being fascinated as carved faces and figures emerged from blocks of wood and stone. It took him a while to decide what he wanted to do with his pencils (he never stopped drawing), and for a period of time, back in the 1980's, he worked as a cel-renderer and background artist in several animation studios.


By the mid 1990's he began illustrating children's books. In 2001 he wrote and illustrated the first of his own picture books; The Kiss That Missed which was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway award. He is probably best known for his Hugless Douglas series. To date he has created around 150 books in over 30 languages.