Author: Jan Brett

Being in School this year I've gained a greater appreciation for READING. I love to read and last year I read over 30 books and hope to break that record this year. I want my youngest child to see me read more than my older children did. I was too busy being a mother of 3 young children and taking care of my two nephews. I didn't read very much then. But, I'm taking the time now to do it and I LOVE IT!!!

Thanks too, Natalie, for your inspiration and example!!! She's my biggest reader and now is aspiring to publish her own books. She's written 6 novels this past year and hopes to acquire a literary agent this year. We have great hopes for Natalie's success!!! I've loved every book she's written!!!

Each month in school we have an Author of the Month and this month it's been Jan Brett. She is a remarkable artist and studies her subjects first hand as she travels to places like Europe, Africa, China, and Costa Rica just to name a few.


This is a drawing of "Hedgie" the Hedgehog that I finished in class today. Our class watched Jan Brett's video "How to Draw a Hedgehog" and it was fun to see the kids get excited about learning to draw a hedgehog from such a talented artist. Her videos are fun to watch too!

Her Website is filled with lots of things to see and do. It's well worth your time, especially if you have children. You can make post cards, watch videos of how to draw Hedgehogs (see my hedgie above), chickens, elephants, lions, etc. You can also view her library of videos and watch her adventures in illustrating and writing her books. It's really quite fun!!!

Click on the links below to go to the different activities:
Send an email postcard here.
Print coloring pages here.
Print your own bookmarks here.
Print your own cards and envelopes here.
How to draw videos are here.

All About Jan Brett:
With over thirty four million books in print, Jan Brett is one of the nation's foremost author illustrators of children's books. Jan lives in a seacoast town in Massachusetts, close to where she grew up. During the summer her family moves to a home in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.
As a child, Jan Brett decided to be an illustrator and spent many hours reading and drawing. She says, "I remember the special quiet of rainy days when I felt that I could enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to recreate that feeling of believing that the imaginary place I'm drawing really exists. The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real." As a student at the Boston Museum School, she spent hours in the Museum of Fine Arts. "It was overwhelming to see the room-size landscapes and towering stone sculptures, and then moments later to refocus on delicately embroidered kimonos and ancient porcelain," she says. "I'm delighted and surprised when fragments of these beautiful images come back to me in my painting."
Travel is also a constant inspiration. Together with her husband, Joe Hearne, who is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan visits many different countries where she researches the architecture and costumes that appear in her work. "From cave paintings to Norwegian sleighs, to Japanese gardens, I study the traditions of the many countries I visit and use them as a starting point for my children's books."

Here's a list of the Books she's written over the years:
Books Written and Illustrated by Jan Brett
(Click on the links for more information)
GINGERBREAD FRIENDS--G.P. Putnam's Sons
HEDGIE BLASTS OFF!--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2006
THE UMBRELLA--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2004
DAISY COMES HOME--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2002
CHRISTMAS TREASURY--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2001
HEDGIE'S SURPRISE--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2000
THE HAT--G.P. Putnam's Sons--1997
COMET'S NINE LIVES--G.P. Putnam's Sons--1996
ARMADILLO RODEO--G.P. Putnam's Sons--1995
CHRISTMAS TROLLS--G P. Putnam's Sons--1993
TROUBLE WITH TROLLS--G. P. Putnam's Sons--1992
BERLIOZ THE BEAR--G P. Putnam's Sons--1991
THE WILD CHRISTMAS REINDEER--G P. Putnam's Sons--1990
THE FIRST DOG--Harcourt Brace Jovanovich--1988
ANNIE AND THE WILD ANIMALS--Houghton Mifflin--1985
FRITZ AND THE BEAUTIFUL HORSES--Houghton Mifflin--1981

Books Retold and Illustrated by Jan Brett
THE THREE SNOW BEARS--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2007
HONEY...HONEY...LION!--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2005
ON NOAH'S ARK--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2003
WHO'S THAT KNOCKING ON CHRISTMAS EVE--G.P. Putnam's Sons--2002
GINGERBREAD BABY--G. P. Putnam's Sons--1999
TOWN MOUSE, COUNTRY MOUSE--G. P. Putnam's Sons--1994
THE MITTEN--G. P. Putnam's Sons--1989
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST--Clarion--1989
GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS--G. P. Putnam's Sons--1987

Books Illustrated by Jan Brett
THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS --G.P. Putnam's Sons--1998
THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT--G. P. Putnam's Sons--1991
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR DUCK--Clarion--1988
THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS--G.P. Putnam's Sons--1986
SCARY, SCARY HALLOWEEN--Clarion--1986
MOTHER'S DAY MICE--Clarion--1986
NOELLE OF THE NUTCRACKER--Houghton Mifflin--1986
VALENTINE BEARS--Clarion--1983
ST. PATRICK'S DAY IN THE MORNING--Clarion--1980