Monday, January 13, 2025

Meet the Illustrators The Fan Brothers



Ocean Meets Sky Source: Fan Brothers

I’d also love to see publishers taking more chances on stories that are perhaps challenging or unconventional in some way. As a kid, I was always attracted to the more unusual books, which acted as a springboard for my imagination. I wonder if some of those books would even be considered today. I understand there are always economic considerations and questions of marketability, but I think there’s a real danger of missing out on something incredible by playing it too safe. I’d consider The Barnabus Project to be a pretty unusual book because of its themes and long page length, but we were lucky that our publisher, Tara Walker, believed in us enough to take that leap.  The Art of the Picture Book

I am so excited that The Fan Brothers designed the poster for the 2026 IBBY Congress which will be held in Ottawa because surely that means they will be included in the program and also hopefully this Congress will have a bookshop and all of their fabulous books will be for sale including a couple of titles that have not yet reached us here in Australia or that have been given prohibitive prices in our stores.


Take a look here to see another Moose illustration by The Fan Brothers.


Eric Fan received his formal art training at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto. His work is a blend of traditional and contemporary techniques, using ink or graphite mixed with digital. He has a passion for vintage bikes, clockwork contraptions, and impossible dreams. 

Terry Fan received his formal art training at Ontario College of Art in Toronto, Canada. His work is a blend of traditional and contemporary techniques, using ink or graphite mixed with digital. He spends his days (and nights) creating magical paintings, portraits and prints.

Devin Fan is an artist, poet and youth worker who has a passion for nature, adventures and kung fu. The Barnabus Project is his first children's book and marks the first time he has worked with his brothers Terry and Eric to write and illustrate a picture book together.

They made their picture book debut with The Night Gardener (2016), which was named an ALA Notable Children's Book.


The earliest seeds of the story can probably be traced back to our childhoods. Our dad has always had a great love of trees, nature, and bonsai, having grown up in the Taiwanese countryside. I think living in Toronto, he missed that and compensated for the cold Canadian winters by turning our house into something of a jungle. There was even a parrot flying free in the house. We ended up basing the character of the Night Gardener on him.

In 2018, the Fan Brothers published Ocean Meets Sky and it was shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal.


Ocean Meets Sky

The Fan Brothers collaborated with their youngest brother, Devin Fan, on his book debut, The Barnabus Project (2020) and this book won the Canadian Governor General's Award for English-language children's illustration. 


The Barnabus Project

When we were first thinking about Barnabus all those years ago, we were fascinated by recent advances in bioengineering and what it might mean for people in the future. We were concerned about the dystopian implications of the technology, and in the decades since I think it’s become even more relevant. With the rise in social media we’re also constantly bombarded with images of “perfection”. It’s a debilitating, harmful concept that’s almost impossible to not be affected by. Advertising plays into the same feedback loop by constantly reinforcing and amplifying those same impossible standards.


Lizzy and the Cloud


Read some interviews:


It Fell from the Sky


Find the Fan Brothers on Instagram; Eric Fan on Facebook; Terry Fan on Facebook; and here is their website where you can see inside all of their books - this is well worth exploring.

You can see their t-shirt designs here. 

This is their newest book:


Meet Barnaby: he's half mouse and half elephant, with just a dash of flamingo . . . and fully trained! When he's brought home to be pampered and cared for by his very own little girl, life is perfect . . . until a new, even more perfect pet comes on the scene. Suddenly Barnaby is no longer the most perfect pet around, and his little girl doesn't seem interested in him anymore. Feeling unappreciated, Barnaby runs away and finds himself swept up on a wild journey through the city and an emotional search for home in a tale of love found, lost and found again.  See inside here. 

Besty Bird talks to The Fan Brothers about Barnaby Unboxed.

Books by other authors with Fan Brothers illustrations:






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