Jeremy Tankard is the author and illustrator of the four very silly picture books: Grumpy Bird, Boo Hoo Bird, Hungry Bird and his latest title, Sleepy Bird. The funny thing is he never planned to be a writer. However, after many years of drawing pictures he decided that maybe adding some words to his art would be a nice thing to try. To his surprise he loved writing and it seemed to be a natural fit for his drawings. The rest is history and he can’t imagine a life without stories.
Jeremy was born in Cape Town, South Africa but left at the age of four for a new life in the United States.
After living in South Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee, his family moved to Calgary, Alberta where he spent most of his school years, finally ending up at the Alberta College of Art and Design. After a few years in Toronto he now resides in Vancouver. He continues to illustrate books for other authors and is also working hard on a number of new projects of his own.
Jeremy enjoys eating apple pie and practicing kung fu, but never at the same time.
Read a letter from Jeremy
A LETTER FROM JEREMY
When I was young my dad used to tell my brother and me stories in order to keep us from complaining during long walks in the mountains. Some of the stories were true, others were not—and as for the rest of them, we still don't know whether to believe them or not. With a father who loved telling stories and a mother who oversaw school libraries, I grew up loving words and the power of storytelling. At some point I began writing and illustrating my own stories. The early ones featured a pig family who had a series of misadventures. The only words in the books were "Hallo", "HALP!", and "Bye bye"—probably because they were the only words I knew how to spell—sort of. Luckily I've learned how to spell some other words since then! I studied drawing and printmaking at the Alberta College of Art and Design before embarking on a career as an illustrator. My illustrations have appeared in many magazines and ad campaigns including Time, The New York Times, Guitar Player, and The Boston Globe.
Somewhere along the way I realized that I was beginning to lose sight of what got me excited about illustration to begin with: telling stories. So, almost three decades after my first effort and armed with my new and improved vocabulary, I started writing books for children again.
When not writing or drawing I like to spend time with my wife, Heather, and our two adorable children: Theo and Hermione. Hermione like in Harry Potter. And yes, she is magical. Like Bird’s friends I enjoy hiking, although I always take a snack with me. I live in Vancouver where I’m known to eat sushi on a fairly regular basis. Yum!
Every day I marvel at a world where I can make up stories and draw pictures for a living.
