Meet the illustrator Jon Klassen

Photo source: Walker Books Australia

House held up by trees

Canadian illustrator Jon Klassen has won the 2026 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. I wanted to share some background reading about this wonderful illustrator and show you many of his books. I discovered Jon Klassen came to the Sydney Writers Festival in 2016 - why did I miss this? My friends and I really hope we might be able to meet him at the IBBY Congress in Ottawa this year.

In 2011 Klassen's I Want My Hat Back became a runaway bestseller. With his sequel This is Not My Hat, Klassen became the first children's book illustrator to win the equally prestigious American Caldecott Medal and the British Kate Greenaway Medal for the same book.

Here is a profile of Jon Klassen by his friend and author Mac Barnett. And an interview with Owl Connected.

Read this interview with The Picture Book Makers

Extra Yarn

Klassen was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in 1981 and grew up in Niagara Falls and Toronto, Ontario. He studied animation and graduated in 2005 and moved to Los Angeles.

Illustration from House Held up by Trees

Book list:

As author and illustrator The Hat Trilogy (this link has five videos about this series)

• I Want My Hat Back 
• This Is Not My Hat 
• We Found a Hat 

The Rock from the Sky 
The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale 

With Mac Barnett

The Shape Trilogy

• Triangle 
• Square 
• Circle 

Read my blog post about Square

Extra Yarn 

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole 

The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse 

The Three Billy Goats Gruff 

How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney 

How does Santa go down the Chimney?

Cats' Night Out, by Carolyn Stutson (won the Canada Council for the Arts Governor General’s Award)

House Held Up by Trees, by Ted Kooser 

The Dark, by Lemony Snicket 

New Board Book series published April 2026

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood 

• Book I: The Mysterious Howling 
• Book II: The Hidden Gallery 
• Book III: The Unseen Guest 
• Book IV: The Interrupted Tale 

Vanished, by Sheela Chari 

The Watch that Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic, by Allan Wolf 

The Witch's Boy, by Kelly Barnhill 

The Nest, by Kenneth Oppel 

Pax, by Sara Pennypacker 

Skunk and Badger, by Amy Timberlake 

Pax, Journey Home, by Sara Pennypacker 

Egg Marks The Spot, by Amy Timberlake 

The Lions' Run by Sara Pennypacker

Skunk and Badger

Here is a new book coming out in July - large sized board book:

Here are the things in this house: a chair, a clock on the wall, a stool, a lamp. And more. What’s missing from this house? Somebody. This is the house with nobody in it. 

Well, there might be something . . .

And this board book was published in January this year:

Question asked by Seven Impossible things in 2011: As a book lover, it interests me: What books or authors and/or illustrators influenced you as an early reader?

Jon: My favorites when I was little were P. D. Eastman’s books. As an illustrator, he was very straightforward and approachable, but as a storyteller I think he was pretty experimental. I’d love to be that same combination when I grow up. My favorite was Sam and the Firefly. Also Go, Dog. Go!, which isn’t even a story, it’s just a bunch of random stuff happening, but it had this weird way of all hanging together and building to an ending, and when it was done you really felt like something had happened.

I also really loved Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad books. He’s going into such big problems and emotions in those books, but the language and the pictures are so comfortable and easy that you’re not scared away. There are a lot of illustrators I came late to that I wish I had known about when I was little, like Brian Wildsmith, Leo Lionni, and Tove Jansson.

Discover more books about fireflies

International Award Winners Announced

On the same day we heard the news about the Hans Christian Andersen Award winners (one for writing and one for Illustration) and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner.

The Hans Christian Andersen Award is the highest international recognition given to an author and an illustrator of children's books. Given every other year by IBBY, the Hans Christian Andersen Awards recognize lifelong achievement and are presented to an author and an illustrator whose complete works have made an important, lasting contribution to children's literature. The Author's Award has been given since 1956 and the Illustrator's Award since 1966. The Award consists of a gold medal and a diploma, presented at a festive ceremony during the biennial IBBY Congress. 

And the winner for writing is .... Michael Rosen. Read my post from 2024. And here is his web page.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Michael Rosen's Reading Manifesto:

1. Reading books helps children make the most of what school and the world offer them.

2. Books give children language, thoughts, ideas and feelings.

3. Books show them places and times and cultures very near and dear to them.

4. Books show them places and times and cultures they may not have come across before.

5. Books help children walk in other people’s shoes, seeing things from someone else’s point of view.

6. Books help children see that they are not alone.

7. We have to do what we can to put books into children’s hands.

8. We have to do what we can to find space and time for children to talk about books.

9. We have to celebrate children’s books.

10. Children’s books are for everyone because we are all children at some time or another.

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is a global award given annually to a person or organisation for their outstanding contribution to children’s and young adult literature. With a prize of five million Swedish kronor, it is the largest award of its kind. Above all else, it highlights the importance of reading, today and for future generations.

And the winner is ... Canadian author/illustrator Jon Klassen. Read more here. 

Extra Yarn

Check out my previous posts about the ALMA for 2026 and the HCAA ten short listed authors and illustrators. The 2026 HCAA Illustrator winner is Chinese artist Cia Gao. I don't think any of her books have been translated into English but I expect that will now happen following on from this award.  You can read her dossier. There are links here on the IBBY page. 

Previous ALMA winners include our Australian Indigenous Literacy Foundation; Shaun Tan; Sonya Hartnett; Jacqueline Woodson; Christine Nostlinger (Conrad the story of a factory-made boy); Laurie Halse Andersen; and Maurice Sendak.

Previous HCAA winners for writing include Patrician Wrightson (Australia); Jacqueline Woodson; David Almond; Margaret Mahy; Martin Waddell; Aiden Chambers; Katherine Paterson; and Astrid Lindgren. Previous HCAA winners for illustration include Maurice Sendak; Mitsumasa Anno; Robert Ingpen (Australia); Lisbeth Zwerger; Anthony Browne; Max Velthuijs (Frog is frog); Roberto Innocenti; Roger Mello; Suzy Lee; and Sydney Smith. 

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2024

Literature opens the door to new worlds and has the ability to increase understanding and exchange between cultures and people.

2024 Winner is from Australia

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) encourages reading and promote literacy by securing access to good literature for First Nations children of Australia. The organisation works in 427 First Nations Communities all over the Australian continent. 

ILF emphasizes the importance of First Nations children finding themselves, their culture and their languages reflected in the books they read. With trust and respect for each Community and its unique conditions, traditions and wishes, and in cooperation with Community residents, ILF promotes reading for pleasure, education, the creation of new stories and the preservation of language. ILF’s innovative, creative work is an inspiration – not only for reading promotion among First Nations peoples, but also for work with children in other social groups whose stories, languages and experiences are not recognized by the majority society.

ALMA Jury comments: "With curiosity and respect, Indigenous Literacy Foundation works with reading and storytelling among First Nations children in Australia. In close collaboration with Communities, they highlight the value of all people’s own languages and stories. By spreading books and stimulating reading, storytelling and creativity, Indigenous Literacy Foundation builds the desire to read and fosters pride, self-confidence and a sense of belonging. Every child has the right to their language and their stories."

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is awarded to those who continue to work in her spirit: with imagination, bravery, respect and empathy, and maintaining the highest level of artistic excellence. The attention of the award leads to more translations and to more children having access to high-quality literature—entertaining, innovative, challenging, or complex.

The prize amount of SEK 5,000,000 ($513,000) is a signal to the world that Sweden takes children’s reading very seriously. Reading books in translation fosters understanding among people and cultures. Children’s and young adult's access to literature is a precondition for democracy and openness.

This has been the big award week for Children's Literature. We have had the announcement of the Hans Christian Andersen Award winners and now the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award or ALMA. You can see a very short film here about the award and about Astrid Lindgren.

A total of 245 candidates from 68 countries and regions have been nominated for the 2024 award, including 66 candidates new from previous years. You can read about the 2022 nominees here. 

The list includes authors and illustrators, as well as storytellers and reading promoters. You can see the whole list here - there are some big names on this list which makes winning this award by the ILF even more impressive. Here are a few names I noticed of people who were nominated in 2024: Kate DiCamillo; Isabelle Arsenault; Deborah Ellis; Jon Klassen; Ivar Da Coll; Gilles Bachelet; Timothée de Fombelle; Tonke Dragt; Gavin Bishop; Atinuke; Iwona Chmielewska; Suzy Lee; Sven Nordqvist; Allan Ahlberg; David Almond; Malorie Blackman; Quentin Blake; Lauren Child; Julia Donaldson; Neil Gaiman; Michael Rosen; Katherine Rundell; Beverley Naidoo; Room to Read; Ursula Dubosarsky; and Ken Wilson-Max.

You can see past winners here. 

This is the THIRD time Australia has received this huge honour:

2008 Sonya Hartnett

I have previously talked about The Midnight Zoo; The Children of the King; Blue Flower; and Go Home Cat. Also Sadie and Ratz. Read Betsy Bird's comments about Sadie and Ratz. 

2011 Shaun Tan

Highlights of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award shortlist (ALMA)

Children have the right to great stories

To lose yourself in a story is to find yourself in the grip of an irresistible power. A power that provokes thought, unlocks language and allows the imagination to roam free. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award was created in 2002 by the Swedish government to promote every child’s right to great stories. This global award is given annually to a person or organisation for their outstanding contribution to children’s and young adult literature. With a prize of five million Swedish kronor, it is the largest award of its kind. Above all else, it highlights the importance of reading, today and for future generations.

Nominated candidates 2022

Have a look through the complete list of nominees for the 2022 award—a full 282 names from 71 countries including some of the world's foremost creators of literature for children and young people, as well as reading promoters.  In this post I highlight a few book creators that I have featured in my blog.

We are so proud here in Australia that two of our book creators have previously won the ALMA - Shaun Tan (2011) and Sonya Hartnett (2008). You can see other winners from past years here. 

Note the names I list here under each country heading are all incomplete (this post would be too long if I listed all 282 names) - these are just links to blog posts - you can see the full list of nominations for each country by clicking the link above. 

Australia

Jeannie Baker, Illustrator

Ursula Dubosarsky, Author

Susanne Gervay, Author (external link)

Indigenous Literacy Foundation, Organisation (external link)

Robert Ingpen, Author/Illustrator/Storyteller

Margo Lanagan, Author

Brazil

Roger Mello, Author/Illustrator

Canada

Isabelle Arsenault, Author/Illustrator

Deborah Ellis, Author

Robert Munsch, Author/Illustrator/Storyteller

Canada/Iran

Nahid Kazemi, Illustrator

Colombia

Ivar Da Coll, Author/Illustrator

Croatia

Dubravka Kolanović, Author

France

Timothée de Fombelle, Author

Ireland

Marie Louise Fitzpatrick, Author/Illustrator

PJ Lynch, Illustrator

Italy/France

Beatrice Alemagna, Author/Illustrator

Lithuania

Kęstutis Kasparavičius, Author/Illustrator

Russian Federation

Julia Gukova, Illustrator

Switzerland

Albertine, Illustrator

United Kingdom

Allan Ahlberg, Author

Malorie Blackman, Author

Quentin Blake, Author/Illustrator

Anthony Browne, Author

Frances Hardinge, Author

Shirley Hughes, Author/Illustrator

Katherine Rundell, Author

United Kingdom/South Africa

Beverley Naidoo, Author

United States

Laurie Halse Anderson, Author

Kate DiCamillo, Author

Nikki Grimes, Author (external link)

David Macaulay, Illustrator (external link)

Yuyi Morales, Author/Illustrator

Kadir Nelson, Author/Illustrator

Jason Reynolds, Author (external link)

Rick Riordan, Author

Raina Telgemeier, Author/Illustrator (external link)

Zimbabwe

Ken Wilson-Max, Illustrator (external link)