Jan Brett

Jan Brett (born December 1, 1949) is an American illustrator and writer of children's picture books. Her colorful, detailed depictions of a wide variety of animals and human cultures range from Scandinavia to Africa. Her titles include The Mitten, The Hat, and Gingerbread Baby. She has adapted or retold traditional stories such as the Gingerbread Man and Goldilocks and has illustrated classics such as "The Owl and the Pussycat."

Life
Brett was born and still lives in Massachusetts. She decided to be an illustrator as a child and recalls, "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." She studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and now travels extensively to research architecture and costume for her books.

Brett's earliest book in the Library of Congress online catalog was published by Atheneum Books in 1978 under her married name: Woodland Crossings, with 43 pages of text by Stephen Krensky and drawings by Jan Brett Bowler. The Library phoned her that September and learned that she would be using her maiden name thereafter. Its catalog covers 13 books she created from 1978 to 1984, all but one as an illustrator with another writer. That one was the self-illustrated picture book Fritz and the Beautiful Horses, published by Houghton Mifflin in 1981. Beginning with Annie and the Wild Animals (Houghton Mifflin, 1985) she created numerous picture books as writer and illustrator. For a few years she continued to work with other writers, especially Eve Bunting, but she has rarely done so since 1990.

On August 18, 1980 Jan Brett married bassist Joseph Hearne, a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1962.

Brett maintains a list of books online that may be complete for her original writings and adaptations. For almost every listing she identifies a specific setting such as Salzburg, Austria, for her first book as a writer, Fritz and the Beautiful Horses (1981), and Novgorod, Russia, for her recent adaptation Cinders: A Chicken Cinderella (2013).

Illustrated
Source:


 * Happy Birthday, Dear Duck (1988) by Eve Bunting
 * Mother's Day Mice (1986) by Eve Bunting
 * Scary, Scary Halloween (1986) by Eve Bunting
 * Noelle of the Nutcracker (1988) by Pamela Jane

Written & Illustrated
Source:


 * Fritz and the Beautiful Horses (Houghton Mifflin, 1981)
 * Annie and the Wild Animals (1985)
 * The Twelve Days of Christmas (Dodd, Mead, 1986), an edition of the English song published 1780
 * Goldilocks and the Three Bears (1987)
 * The First Dog (1988)
 * The Mitten: a Ukrainian folktale (1989); issued as a board book in 1996
 * The Wild Christmas Reindeer (1990)
 * The Owl and the Pussycat (1991), an edition of the 1871 poem by Edward Lear
 * Berlioz the Bear (1991)
 * Christmas Trolls (1993)
 * Trouble with Trolls (1994)
 * Town Mouse Country Mouse (1994)
 * Armadillo Rodeo (1995)
 * The Mitten (1996)
 * Comets Nine Lives (1996)
 * Gingerbread Baby (1997)
 * The Hat (1997)
 * The Night Before Christmas (1998), an edition of the 1823 poem by Clement C. Moore
 * Daisy Comes Home (2002)
 * Hedgie's Surprise (2002)
 * Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve? (2002)
 * On Noah's Ark (2003)
 * The Umbrella (2002)
 * Honey, Honey, Lion! (2005)
 * Hedgie Loves to Read (2006)
 * Hedgie Blasts Off! (2006)
 * The Three Snow Bears (2007)
 * Gingerbread Friends (2008)
 * The Easter Egg (2010)
 * The 3 Little Dassies (2010)
 * Home for Christmas (2011)
 * Mossy (2012)
 * Cinders: A Chicken Cinderella (2013), an adaptation of Cinderella
 * The Animals' Santa (2014)
 * The Turnip (2015), an adaptation of the Russian folk story The Gigantic Turnip
 * Gingerbread Christmas (2016)
 * The Mermaid (2017), an under the sea version of Goldilocks and The Three Bears
 * The Snowy Nap (2018)
 * The Tale of the Tiger Slippers (2019)
 * Cozy (2020)
 * The Nutcracker (2021)
 * Cozy in Love (2022)

Awards
Brett's works have been nominated for and won multiple awards over the years.
 * 1990: Wild Christmas Reindeer was featured on the New York Times Bestseller list.
 * 1991: The Mitten won the Kentucky Bluegrass Award. Berlioz the Bear was chosen for Newsweek Magazine Best Children's Book and New Yorker Magazine Best Children's Books.
 * 1994: Trouble with Trolls won the Black-Eyed Susan Book award from the Maryland Library Association.
 * 1995: Trouble with Trolls is honored as a Little Bluestem picture book and the Nebraska Golden Sower Award from the Nebraska Library Association.
 * 1998: The Hat wins the American Booksellers Association's Book of the Year Award.
 * 1999: The Hat wins Buckeye Children's & Teen Book Award. Gingerbread Baby was chosen as one of the Best Children's Books of the Year by Bank Street College Center for Children's Literature's Children's Book Committee.
 * 2001: Gingerbread Baby wins one of the Triple Crown Awards, (specifically the Children's Gallery Award) from the National Christian School Association.
 * 2003: Daisy Comes Home wins National Council for Social Studies & Children's Book Council's Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People for the cultural diversity present in her book.
 * 2008: The Three Snow Bears helps Brett make it as a finalist for the Children's Favorites Awards' and the Kids' Book Choice Awards' Illustrator of the Year.
 * 2010: The 3 Little Dassies wins the Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Kids' Award in the Folk and Fairy Tales and Poetry division. The Easter Egg wins Oppenheim Toy Portfolio's Gold Book Award.
 * 2013: Mossy wins Best Children's Books of the Year for the Five to Nine category by Bank Street College Center for Children's Literature's Children's Book Committee.
 * 2014: Brett's adaptation of The Night Before Christmas wins the Libris Award's Children's Picture Book of the Year.
 * 2019: The Snowy Nap is the third book of Brett's to win the Best Children's Books of the Year by the Bank Street College Center for Children's Literature's Children's Book Committee.
 * 2021: Cozy wins two awards: the Massachusetts Book Award and the Best Children's Books of the Year by the Bank Street College Center for Children's Literature's Children's Book Committee. Brett was awarded the Regina Medal from the Catholic Library Association.

Reception
The Mitten: The Mitten has been positively perceived by libraries and parents alike. Fulton County's Library reviewed it by saying how its seemingly simple premise may seem unappealing for a book, but the beautiful illustrations make the story come alive. The library called it a book families would read and reread to their children again and again. Common Sense Media wrote in their "Parents Need to Know" section that The Mitten is a special book that families can treasure. This is because of the whimsical, wholesome illustrations, and charming story that bring the story to life.

Cinders: A Chicken Cinderella: According to Kirkus Reviews, Cinders: A Chicken Cinderella is a captivating retelling and rendition of Cinderella. Publishers Weekly also commented on how detailed and charming the illustrations are, adding to the enchantment of the classic fairy tale.

Mossy: Kirkus Reviews recommended Mossy for plant and animal lovers for a wide array of reasons. These reasons include the unique heroine, (a turtle growing a garden on the back of her shell) and themes covered in the book, (the art in nature and all living things.)  Publishers Weekly called Brett's meticulous illustrations and beautiful rendering of nature in Mossy as delightful and attention-grabbing.

In May 2023 at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York, there was an exhibition dedicated to Brett's Illustrations. The exhibition director, Chris Rossi, commented on how the details in Brett's paintings are eye-catching and intricate. The amount of studying she puts into her books also adds to making her art feel more lively and detailed.

Readers respond very positively to her signature, intricate art style. They'll often describe it as beautiful, adorable, imaginative, and enchanting. They believe the art complements the whimsical stories Brett writes well.