Children's Author Highlight: Jan Brett

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I was introduced to today's author highlight while in college taking a children's literature class.  Since that time, Jan Brett has become a favorite author-illustrator.  Jan Brett is a contemporary author, currently writing, painting, and publishing.  Brett's fantastic artwork is what drew me to her books.  Every book is full of beautiful color and detail. 

See below for photo credit

The following are facts about Jan Brett and her books that I find fascinating:

• Jan Brett's husband, Joe,  is a string bass player in the Boston Symphony Orchestra (and he was the inspiration for Brett's book, Berlioz the Bear).
• Jan Brett loves to travel world wide.  She not only gets inspiration for her books from the countries (and their traditions) she visits, but also studies architecture and costumes to incorporate into her artwork.
• Jan Brett incorporates lots of animals into her books, but her favorite animal is a hedgehog.  Many of her books have hedgehogs included somewhere in the artwork (for example, in her book, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the bed posts of the bears' beds have hedgehogs carved into them).
• The border art in many of Brett's books include glimpses into what is coming next in the story.  In The Mitten, different wild animals happen upon the same mitten, one at a time.  The border art throughout this book includes the animal that is coming next.  I love how this detail helps a child's prediction skills as we read these books.

Jan Brett's website is a treasure for teachers (or mothers who love children's literature).  Click here to get access to free coloring pages, a master book list, stories behind Brett's books, videos of Jan Brett, a tutorial on how to draw a hedgehog, more information about Jan Brett, and much more!

This link is a complete book list of books by Jan Brett, and includes the setting of each book.  The books I would like to recommend this week are:

• The Hat (Notice the animals in the border art predicting what is coming next)
• The Mitten (Notice the animals int he border art predicting what is coming next)
• Berlioz the Bear (Notice the happenings in the border art at the top of the page as the village prepares for Berlioz's arrival)
• Hedgie's Surprise (A fun story featuring Jan Brett's favorite animal)
• Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve? (We really enjoy reading this one every year around Chrismtas time)
• Christmas Trolls (Notice the border art at the bottom of the page to see what is happening to all of the Christmas decorations)
• Armadillo Rodeo (A fun story about an armadillo that gets a smattering of decorated cowboy boots confused with his family)

Disclaimer: Our recommendation of the books mentioned in this post is not a complete endorsement of the author, illustrator, or their other works.  Please use discernment in selecting books by any given author.

This is part 3 in the Children's Author Highlight Series.  Click here for more children's author recommendations.

Photo of Jan Brett was found on Jan Brett's website here.
Photo of Hedgie was found here.