Jim K. Benton (born October 31, 1960) is an American illustrator and writer. Licensed properties he has created include

Dear Dumb Diary ''Dear Dumb Diary'' is a series of children's novels by Jim Benton. Each book is written in the first person view of a middle school girl named Jamie Kelly. The series is published by Scholastic in English and Random House in Korean. Film right ...

, Dog of Glee, Franny K. Stein, Just Jimmy, Just Plain Mean, Sweetypuss, The Misters, Meany Doodles, Vampy Doodles, Kissy Doodles, and the jOkObo project, but he is probably most known for his creation It's Happy Bunny.

Early life and education

Jim Benton was raised in

Birmingham, Michigan Birmingham is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Detroit located along the Woodward Corridor ( M-1). As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,103. History The area comprising what is now the ...

, graduating from

Seaholm High School Ernest W. Seaholm High School (simply referred to as Seaholm High School) is a public high school in Birmingham, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1951 and is part of the Birmingham Public Schools district. History Seaholm opened ...

in 1978. He studied fine arts at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

Career

Benton began his career in a Shirt shop where he started designing his own characters on T-shirts. At the same time, he did illustrations and artwork for magazines and newspapers. ''People'' magazine named him "one of the most visible cartoonists in America." Benton also created greeting cards and worked in the magazine and publishing industry. In 1998, his SpyDogs characters became an animated series, ''

The Secret Files of the Spy Dogs ''The Secret Files of the Spy Dogs'' is an American children's animated series, produced by Saban Entertainment, that aired on Fox Kids from 1998 to 1999. Ownership of the series passed to Disney in 2001 when Disney acquired Fox Kids Worldwide, ...

'', that aired on

Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...

. Licensing his own creations brought them widespread attention on products, such as It's Happy Bunny, which he created in the mid-1990s but licensed in 2002. Benton currently lives in Michigan, where he operates out of his own studio. He is married and is a father of two children.

''Dear Dumb Diary''

* #1: ''Let's Pretend This Never Happened'' (2004) * #2: ''My Pants Are Haunted!'' (2004) * #3: ''Am I The Princess Or The Frog?'' (2005) * #4: ''Never Do Anything, Ever'' (2005) * #5: ''Can Adults Become Human?'' (2006) * #6: ''The Problem With Here is That It's Where I'm From'' (2007) * #7: ''Never Underestimate Your Dumbness'' (2008) * #8: ''It's Not My Fault I Know Everything'' (2009) * #9: ''That's What Friends Aren't For'' (2010) * #10: ''The Worst Things In Life Are Also Free'' (2010) * #11: ''Okay, So Maybe I Do Have Superpowers'' (2011) * #12: ''Me! (Just Like You, Only Better)'' (2011)

''Dear Dumb Diary: Year Two''

* #1: ''School. Hasn't This Gone on Long Enough?'' (2012) * #2: ''The Super-Nice are Super-Annoying'' (2012) * #3: ''Nobody's Perfect. I'm as Close as It Gets.'' (Jan. 2013) * #4 ''What I Don't Know Might Hurt Me'' (Feb. 2014) * #5 ''You can Bet on That'' (March 2014) * #6 ''Live Each Day to the Dumbest'' (2015)

''It's Happy Bunny''

* ''Love Bites''(2004) * ''Life. Get One'' (2005) * ''What's Your Sign?'' (2006) * ''The Good,The Bad,The Bunny'' (2006) * ''It's Happy Bunny Nice Enough Poster Book'' (2007)

'' Franny K. Stein''

#''Lunch Walks Among Us'' (2003) # ''Attack of the 50-Ft. Cupid'' (2004) # ''The Invisible Fran'' (2004) # ''The Fran That Time Forgot'' (2005) # ''Frantastic Voyage'' (2005) # ''The Fran With Four Brains'' (2006) # ''The Frandidate'' (2008) # ''Bad Hair Day'' (2019) # ''Recipe for Disaster'' (2020) # ''Mood Science'' (2021)

Awards

*2004: Gryphon Award honor book, Center for Children's Books, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (''Lunch Walks Among Us'') *2005: LIMA International Licensing Award, Best Art Brand License (It's Happy Bunny) *2006: Eleanor Cameron Award, Golden Duck Award Committee (''The Fran That Time Forgot'') *2006: LIMA International Licensing Award, Best Character Brand License – Soft Goods (It's Happy Bunny) *2007: LIMA International Licensing Award, Best Character Brand License – Hard Goods (It's Happy Bunny) *2007: Austin ADDY Awards (with

Partnership for a Drug-Free America Partnership to End Addiction, first known as the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA) then later as the Partnership at DrugFree.org, and The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, is a New York, New York, New York City-based nonprofit, non-profit ...

, Texas Alliance) **Silver award, Public Service Campaign **Bronze award, Public Service postcard *2009: Nomination National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award, Book Illustration: Cherise The Niece *2011: National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award, Greeting Cards: It's Happy Bunny *2014: National Parenting Publications Awards GOLD MEDAL: The End (Almost) *2015: Eisner Award Nominee: Dog Butts and Love. And Stuff Like That. And Cats.

References

External links

J.K. Benton Design StudiosBlackjack Inc.J.K. Benton GalleryBenton's Books
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benton, Jim 1960 births Living people American children's writers American illustrators Writers from Michigan Western Michigan University alumni People from Birmingham, Michigan People from Bloomfield, Oakland County, Michigan