Original picture book artwork by Jill Barton is available for purchase from Images of Delight.
Jill Barton was born in 1940. She had always loved drawing and when she left school at sixteen she applied to the Manchester School of Art. Way back then there were no courses specialising in illustration, so she did not pursue her dream. She was 44 when, after her three children were safely off her hands, she decided to try again. She did a year’s foundation course achieving a distinction and went on to do a degree in illustration. She graduated, aged 48 “having loved every minute of being a mature student.” Jill says, “So you see, it’s never too late”. She later taught at MMU for five years combining both careers until it became too much and she had to choose between them. She obviously had to choose her first love.
She was shortlisted for the Macmillan Prize for Students in 1988 and was offered her first story, Grape Zoo, just before her degree show. The Pig in the Pond was highly commended for the 1993 Kate Greenaway Medal and was also shortlisted for the 1993 Sheffield Children’s Book Award. She won the Boston Globe Horn Book Award in 1997 for In the Rain with Baby Duck and Rattletrap Car was highly commended for the 2002 Sheffield Children’s Book Award. The Baby Duck series of books are hugely popular in the USA and The Pig in the Pond has been one of the most successful books for Walker Books and is also in the 100 best books list.
Jill is now a grandmother and lives in Devon.