For my author study I chose Jan Brett. Jan has written an illustrated thirty-two books with over thirty nine million books in print. Her first book was written in 1981 and is titled, Fritz and the Beautiful Horses. In her books she uses settings from all over the world. You can get books set in Norway, Africa, and the US. Each book tells a unique story, with wonderful illustrations outlining each page to tell a story of another character.
           Jan knew she wanted to be an author/illustrator at a very young age. She would sit and read and draw for hours on end. She liked to pretend that the places she drew were real, and she could jump into her artwork. She says that this is her inspiration for writing and drawing now. Jan wants to reader to feel as if they could intertwine with her work and become a part of it.
           Jan and her husband are avid travelers. When she visits somewhere she researches the architecture and costumes that are around the area. This is where she gets her ideas for her children’s books.
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      On Jan’s personal webpage, she has many activities. There are contests you can enter, plus over 5,000 free coloring pages, videos, and activity pages. Jan seems to really adore her fans and I think this is way she is such a great author/illustrator. When I chose her I did not know much about her. I just knew that in previous classrooms that I have been in, the students really enjoyed her books. I own two of her books, and my two year old loves looking her illustrations. This just shows how versatile her books are. Each reader will find something they love about her books. This is why I picked her and wanted to learn more about her. For my unit study I plan to target second grade. I have worked in a second grade classroom and like that at this age children are still learning how to form their ideas, but they are not so old that they are embarrassed to do so.
For more fun things you can visit Jan's personal website at http://www.janbrett.com/index.html
