Born in London, Jane studied art and design at Middlesex University. After graduating she designed a series of greetings cards for Roger la Borde, with whom she still works, followed by various editorial work, posters and book jackets.
But she was drawn to the world of children’s books and in 1989 her first full colour picture book, A Balloon for Grandad by Nigel Gray, was published by Orchard Books. Since then, Jane has illustrated over 70 children’s books, working with authors such as Michael Rosen, Carol Ann Duffy, Jeanette Winterson, Dianne Hofmeyr, Nicola Davies, Kevin Crossley Holland and Sita Brahmachari.
She has adapted many traditional stories and also writes her own material including Can you catch a Mermaid?, The Apple Pip Princess, The Dolls House Fairy, Ahmed and the Feather Girl and The Elephant’s Garden.
“I started making little books when I was 5 years old and completely fell in love with the process of folding sheets of paper in half into a simple book and then being able to tell a story with a beginning, a middle and an end.”
‘To enable a child to see themselves in a book, to see an aspect of their story being told, is a powerful and liberating thing.’
