I’m a cartoonist and writer, based in Dorset, England. I draw cartoons about environmental issues, science, the places in my life and cartooning in the age of AI. Illustrations of my life in Lyttelton, New Zealand and Reasons to be Cheerful were on GoComics.com and are now books.

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 helped me work with Australia’s CSIRO on their science magazines for kids. The last comic I drew for them was 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 nearly two decades 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, as I had a bad time of it at school between the ages of seven and twelve. I have written a series of middle grade books about kids standing up to bullies [FAB (Friends Against Bullying) Club]. They are the books I would have liked to have read at that age, and children tell me now that they are helpful. And fun!

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 my 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 for nice people. If you have one of those and are one of those, you can email me@alexhallatt.com. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Alex