JENNI DESMOND

Photo supplied by Jenni Desmond

The Polar Bear: New York Times Best Illustrated 2016

Jenni is a picture book maker based in Hackney, London UK.  In 2015 she won Best Emerging Talent (Illustrator) at the Junior Design Awards, and in 2016 she was made a Maurice Sendak Fellow and her book The Polar Bear  won a prestigious New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books award. Her books have been translated into over 20 languages.

She has a passion for books and believes that picture books are essential for nurturing young imaginations.  Jenni does not think picture books should be limited to children, and hopes her own books will also appeal to older people with youthful minds.

Jenni works by hand using mixed media and finishes her artwork digitally.  She  finds inspiration and ideas from being outdoors, memories of her childhood, Japanese aesthetics, interior design, music, textures, textiles, architecture, film, literature, food, photography, and art exhibitions.  

When not making things in her studio, she loves cooking with friends and family, swimming in the lido, and swapping city life for long hikes down by the sea shore or up in the hills and the mountains.

TITLES

The Blue Whale
The Polar Bear
The Elephant

LINKS

To see more of Jenni's work, click here.