Anita Jeram (born 1965) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

author and illustrator of

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

s for children.

Life and career

Growing up in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, England, Jeram always enjoyed drawing, but worked a variety of jobs before pursuing a degree course in illustration at Manchester Polytechnic (now

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

). Soon after graduation she wrote her first book, ''Bill's Belly Button'', which was published by

Walker Books Walker Books is a British publisher of children's books, founded in 1978 by Sebastian Walker, Amelia Edwards, and Wendy Boase. In 1991, the success of Walker Books' ''Where's Wally?'' series enabled the company to expand into the American ma ...

in 1991. Other books she has written include ''Contrary Mary'' (1995), ''Bunny, My Honey'' (1999), and ''I Love My Little Storybook'' (2002). As an illustrator, Jeram received recognition for her illustrations in

Sam McBratney Samuel McBratney (1 March 1943 – 18 September 2020Something About The Author, vol. 164, ed. Lisa Kumar, Cengage Gale, 2006, p. 150) was a writer from Northern Ireland. He wrote more than fifty books for children and young adults, and is best ...

's ''

Guess How Much I Love You ''Guess How Much I Love You'' is a British children's book written by Sam McBratney and illustrated by Anita Jeram, published in 1994, in the United Kingdom by Walker Books and in 1995, in the United States by its subsidiary Candlewick Press. T ...

'', which was a picture-book best seller as well as a 1996

ALA Notable Children's Book American Library Association Notable lists are announced each year in January by various divisions within the American Library Association (ALA). There are six lists, part of the larger ALA awards structure. * ''ALA Notable Books for Adults'' (est ...

. She has also illustrated several books by

Dick King-Smith Ronald Gordon King-Smith OBE (27 March 1922 – 4 January 2011), was an English writer of children's books, primarily using the pen name Dick King-Smith. He is best known for ''The Sheep-Pig'' (1983). It was adapted as the movie ''Babe'' (1995 ...

and Amy Hest. In addition to her work on picture books Jeram also publishes greeting cards through Two Bad Mice Publishers Ltd. Jeram lives with her family in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

.McLeod, Susanna
"Anita Jeram, Heartwarming Children's Illustrator and Author"
3 November 2006. Retrieved 13 February 2013.

References

External links

* 1965 births Living people British children's book illustrators English children's writers Writers from Portsmouth Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) {{England-writer-stub