Jan Thornhill

2003

I was born in 1955 in Sudbury, but spent most of my childhood in southern Ontario where I developed a life-long passion for both art and the natural. After high school, I attended the Ontario College of Art where I majored in Experimental Film & Video. To make a living after graduating, I worked for ten years as a freelance illustrator in Toronto. In the mid-eighties I started working on children’s books, which I both write and illustrate.

By the late eighties, my husband and I decided that the city was no longer compatible with our personalities, particularly after an extended trip to Guatemala. When an opportunity to escape to a farm in central Ontario presented itself, we jumped on it. After a couple of years, when it became clear that we’d made the right move, we bought a piece of land and together built a house near Havelock where we’ve lived ever since (though we have the use of a house in Toronto). In my spare time, I walk in the woods hunting for wild mushrooms and animal skulls with my dog, Betty Boots.

My newest book, The Rumor - A Jataka Tale, is a retelling of a "The sky is falling" tale from India. This is the first book that I’ve done primarily on computer.

Purchase Jan Thornhill Books Online at Amazon.ca (click the book)

Published Works

Children's Books (written & illustrated)

• The Rumor. Maple Tree Press (formerly Owl Books), Fall 2002.
• Before & After. Owl Books; National Geographic Books for Children, Fall 1997.
• Wild in the City. Owl Books (formerly Greey de Pencier), Fall 1995; San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, Fall 1996.
• Crow and Fox and Other Animal Legends. Greey de Pencier; New York: Simon & Schuster, Fall 1993.
• A Tree in a Forest. Greey de Pencier, Fall 1991; New York: Simon & Schuster, Spring 1992.
• The Wildlife 123 - A Nature Counting Book. Greey de Pencier; New York: Simon & Schuster; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Fall 1989.
• The Wildlife ABC - A Nature Alphabet. Greey de Pencier, Fall 1988; New York: Simon & Schuster, Spring 1990.

Children's Books (illustrated only)

• In The Great Meadow. Written by Skid Crease. Annick Press, Fall 1994.

Story Collections (Adult)

• Drought and Other Stories. Cormorant Books, Fall 2000

Awards

• 1998 Short-listed, Mr. Christie's Book Awards (7 & under), Before & After.
• 1996 Finalist for Silver Birch Award, Wild in the City.
• 1995 Our Choice starred selection, Canadian Children's Book Centre, Wild in the City.
• 1994 Selected as White Raven Book, UNESCO International Children's Library, Munich, Crow and Fox and Other Animal Legends
• 1992 First Prize, Roundtable Information Book Award, A Tree in a Forest.
• 1990 First Prize, UNICEF-Ezra Jack Keats International Award for Excellence in Children's Book Illustration, The Wildlife 123.
• 1990 Gold Medal, National Magazine Awards, (Cover Illustration), "The Swimming Hole", The Idler, #24.
• 1990 Finalist for Governor General's Award, (Children's Literature - Illustration), The Wildlife 123.
• 1989 Short-listed for Roundtable Information Book Award, The Wildlife ABC.
• 1989 Finalist for Governor General’s Award, (Children’s Literature - Illustration), The Wildlife ABC.
• 1988 Award of Merit, Art Directors Club of Toronto, (Graphic Design - Illustration), The Wildlife ABC.