Jon Berkeley

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Jon Berkeley

Jon Berkeley (b.1962) is a Dublin-born illustrator and children's author. He travelled widely in the 1980s, working freelance in London, Sydney and Hong Kong before returning to Dublin in 1992, where he formed a loose coalition known as Baggot Street Central with other leading Irish illustrators Roger O'Reilly, P.J. Lynch and Angela Clarke. He has lived in Barcelona since 1997.

Illustration

His illustrations appear in high-profile publications worldwide, including Time, The Sunday Independent, Backbone and The Washington Post, and regularly feature on the cover of The Economist. His 2003 Economist cover on obesity has since been reproduced in over a dozen publications.

Jon Berkeley's work typically features a strong central concept with a twist. He is also known for his sharp and colourful caricatures which have appeared in The Sunday Times (UK), Hot Press and The LA Times among others. He has received awards from the Society of News Design, the 4A's, and the Institute of Creative Advertising and Design.

Writing

Berkeley is the author and illustrator of Chopsticks (2005), the story of a mouse who brings to life a carved Chinese dragon.

In 2005 he was offered six-figure advance by Harper Collins to write a trilogy of children's novels under the Julie Andrews Collection imprint. The first of these, The Palace of Laughter was shortlisted for the 2007 CBI Bisto award Its sequel, The Tiger's Egg, was released in September 2007. The third book in the series, The Lightning Key, will be released early in 2009.

The series, illustrated by Brandon Dorman, is set in and around a sinister circus, and features such colourful characters as a 400-year-old girl, a talking tiger and a stately dowager who lives in a tree. It has been described by Angie Sage as 'a vivid journey of discovery.'