Jon Klassen

Jon Klassen is a Canadian illustrator and writer of children's books, known best for a U2 video and a 2011 children's book, I Want My Hat Back.

Career

Klassen was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. He studied animation[1] at Sheridan College, graduated in 2005,[2] and moved to Los Angeles. In 2006 he made an animated short with Dan Rodriques, An Eye for Annai.[3][4] He worked on Neil Gaiman's Coraline[5] and Kung Fu Panda,[6] and was the art director for U2's animated video for I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight."[7][8] In 2010, he illustrated Maryrose Wood's The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling,[9] and achieved international recognition when he was awarded the Governor General's Award for English-language children's illustration for illustrating Carolyn Stutson's Cat's Night Out.[10]

His 2011 book I Want My Hat Back, in which a bear who is looking for his hat eats the rabbit (off-page) who stole it,[11] was selected among the "10 Best Illustrated Children's Books for 2011" by The New York Times.[12] The book was published in September by Candlewick Press.[13] Klassen said of the ending, a "subversive risk," that "there was no other way for it to end." It achieved considerable commercial success, and even became an internet meme when people started "posting their own versions of the story."[5] In a review in The New York Times, Pamela Paul praised the book: "it is a wonderful and astonishing thing, the kind of book that makes child laugh and adult chuckle, and both smile in appreciation....[it is] a charmingly wicked little book and the debut of a promising writer-illustrator talent."[14] According to the Chicago Tribune, "the joy of this book lies in figuring out the explicit plot from the implicit details in the pictures."[15] There has been, however, some discussion about the book's ending, whether it is appropriate if in a children's book one character kills another without repercussion.[16]

References

  1. ^ Williams, Nate. "Interview with Jon Klassen". Illustrationmundo.com. http://www.illustrationmundo.com/wp/417. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  2. ^ "Jon Klassen: Bringing Stories to Life". Sheridan College. http://www.sheridancollege.ca/Alumni/Alumni%20Profile%20Archives/Animation%20Arts%20and%20Design/Jon%20Klassen.aspx. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  3. ^ "Vu sur le www : Des canards, un œil, etc.". Ecrans. 4 August 2008. http://www.ecrans.fr/Vu-sur-le-www,4775.html. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  4. ^ "Child's Play". The Washington Post. 1 July 2007. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/28/AR2007062802722.html. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  5. ^ a b Flinn, Sue Carter (19 December 2011). "Canadian illustrator Jon Klassen finds success with I Want My Hat Back". Quill & Quire. http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/index.php/2011/12/19/canadian-illustrator-jon-klassen-finds-success-with-i-want-my-hat-back/. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  6. ^ "A Sarmede Jon Klassen: illustratore di Kung Fu Panda". JulieNews.it. 4 August 2011. http://www.julienews.it/notizia/cultura-e-tempo-libero/a-sarmede-jon-klassen-illustratore-di-kung-fu-panda/84474_cultura-e-tempo-libero_7.html. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  7. ^ "Irish Animator David O'Reilly Directs Latest U2 Video". Irish Film and Television Network. 24 July 2009. http://www.iftn.ie/news/?act1=record&aid=73&rid=4282361&tpl=archnews&only=1. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  8. ^ Sims, James (23 July 2009). "Sofa Snark: U2 Goes 'Crazy' For Animation". Broadwayworld.com. http://broadwayworld.com/article/Sofa_Snark_U2_Goes_Crazy_For_Animation_20090723. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  9. ^ Just, Julie (11 April 2010). "Children's Books; Bookshelf". The New York Times: p. 15. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/books/review/Bookshelf-t.html. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  10. ^ Wyatt, Nelson (17 November 2009). "GG Literary Award winners 'stunned,' 'overwhelmed'". Winnipeg Free Press. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/arts/gg-literary-award-winners-stunned-overwhelmed-108625109.html. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  11. ^ Bird, Elizabeth (28 May 2011). "Review of the Day: I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen «  A Fuse #8 Production". School Library Journal. http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production/2011/05/28/review-of-the-day-i-want-my-hat-back-by-jon-klassen/. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  12. ^ Paul, Pamela (3 November 2011). "The 2011 Best Illustrated Children's Books". The New York Times. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/the-2011-best-illustrated-books/. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  13. ^ Liu, Jonathan (20 September 2011). "Picture (Book) Perfect: I Want My Hat Back". Wired.com. http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/09/picture-book-perfect-i-want-my-hat-back/. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  14. ^ Paul, Pamela (13 October 2011). "Children's Books; Not Just Another Bear Story". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/books/review/not-just-another-bear-story.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=jon%20klassen&st=cse. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  15. ^ Russell, Mary Harris. "'I Want My Hat Back' by Jon Klassen". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/books/ct-books-hat-back-klassen,0,4024605.story. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 
  16. ^ Leavitt, Josie (September 2011). "Should the Bear Eat the Rabbit?". Publishers Weekly. http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/shelftalker/?p=6170. Retrieved 2 January 2012. 

External links