James John Mayhew (born 1964 in Stamford, Lincolnshire) is a well-known English illustrator and author of children's books.
Brought up in Blundeston, Suffolk, on leaving school Mayhew studied art at Lowestoft School of Art from 1982 to 1984, and then illustration at Maidstone College of Art, graduating BA in 1987 with first class honours. He has illustrated over 50 books including 20 titles of which he is also the author.[1]
His first published work was "Katie's Picture Show" (1989), beginning a long running series about a girl who explores famous paintings by climbing inside them.[2] Many of his books have a cultural agenda - either art, ballet, opera or literature.
In 1994 he received The New York Times Award for one of the ten best illustrated books of the year for The Boy and the Cloth of Dreams, written by Jenny Koralek. Mayhew's books have been published all over the world, including Japan, China, Korea, Germany, France, Greece, Estonia, Spain, Scandinavia and America. He has exhibited his work in Hertfordshire, Cambridge, London, Paris and New York.[3]
He is also the illustrator of the Mouse and Mole books, animated for television in the 1990s, with the voices of Alan Bennett and Richard Briers.
Having a great interest in Russian opera, Mayhew has illustrated a number of programmes for the Kirov Opera in St Petersburg, and in 1998 was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera in New York to design a series of tee-shirts for the Kirov's season there. Also a storyteller, he has devised and performed in concerts for children, incorporating live music, narration and live illustration, including "Peter and the Wolf", "The Firebird" and "Pictures at an Exhibition". He has also participated in promenade performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Mayhew also teaches Children's Book Illustration to M.A. students at Anglia Ruskin University, and has taught on courses at the Arvon Foundation.[3]
Mayhew lives in Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire with his wife and son.[4]
Katie and the Bathers
Katie and the Dinosaurs
Katie and the Mona Lisa
Katie and the Sunflowers
Katie in London
Katie Meets the Impressionists
Katie's Picture Show
Katie and the Spanish Princess
Katie and the British Artists
Who Wants a Dragon? (Illustrated by Lindsey Gardiner)
Koshka's Tales - stories from Russia
Ella Bella Ballerina and The sleeping Beauty
Madame Nightingale Will Sing Tonight
Dare You!
Miranda the Explorer
Miranda the Castaway
BOY
The Knight who Took All Day
To Sleep, Perchance to Dream (Shakespeare)
Shakespeare's stories (retold by Beverely Birch)
Barefoot Book of Stories from the Opera (retold by Shahrukh Husein)
Shakespeare's Story Book - Folk Tales that inspired the Bard (retold by Patrick Ryan)
Pinocchio (retold by Josephine Poole)
Mouse And Mole (by Joyce Dunbar)
Mouse And Mole have a Party (by Joyce Dunbar)
A very special Mouse And Mole (by Joyce Dunbar)
Happy Days for Mouse And Mole (Joyce Dunbar)
The Boy And The Cloth Of Dreams (by Jenny Koralek)
Tales of Ghostly Ghouls and Haunting Horrors (Written by Martin Waddell)
Boneless and the Tinker
Death and the Neighbours
Gallows Hill
Soft Butler's Ghost