Jan Thornhill

Canadian writer and illustrator

Jan Thornhill
Born	1955 Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Writer
Genre	science, children's literature
Notable works	I Found a Dead Bird, The Wildlife ABC

Jan Thornhill (born 1955 in Sudbury, Ontario) is a Canadian writer and illustrator of educational books on science and nature for children.^[1] She was the 2015 winner of the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, a lifetime achievement award presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada,^[2] and won the Norma Fleck Award in 2007 for her book I Found a Dead Bird: The Kids’ Guide to the Cycle of Life & Death.^[3]

A graduate of the Ontario College of Art,^[4] Thornhill has illustrated many but not all of her own works. She won UNICEF's Ezra Jack Yeats International Award for illustration in 1990 for The Wildlife 123,^[5] and has been a three-time nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language children's illustration at the 1988 Governor General's Awards for The Wildlife ABC,^[6] the 1989 Governor General's Awards for The Wildlife 123^[7] and the 2017 Governor General's Awards for The Tragic Tale of the Great Auk.

She has also published the adult short story collection Drought, which was a shortlisted nominee for the ReLit Awards in 2001,^[8] and has drawn illustrations for general interest magazines including The Idler.

Works

The Wildlife ABC (1988)
The Wildlife 123 (1989)
A Tree in a Forest (1991)
Crow & Fox and Other Animal Legends (1993)
Wild in the City (1996)
Before & After: A Book of Nature Timescapes (1997)
Drought (2001)
Folktails: Animal Legends from Around the World (2007)
This Is My Planet: The Kids' Guide to Global Warming (2007)
Who Wants Pizza?: The Kids' Guide to the History, Science and Culture of Food (2010)
Is This Panama? A Migration Story (2013)
Kyle Goes Alone (2015)
The Tragic Tale of the Great Auk (2016), received the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award^[9]

References

^ "Nature calls author". Victoria Times-Colonist, November 16, 1995.
^ "André Alexis wins Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize". The Globe and Mail, November 3, 2015.
^ "Hampstead writer wins children's book award". Montreal Gazette, October 17, 2007.
^ "Dreams of riches are unfulfilled". Calgary Herald, February 27, 1993.
^ "Top illustrator". Ottawa Citizen, November 3, 1990.
^ "Short lists for literary awards cause a stir". The Globe and Mail, February 2, 1989.
^ "Who will get to shake Ray Hnatyshyn's hand?". Montreal Gazette, February 10, 1990.
^ "Diary of an accidental judge". Vancouver Sun, May 12, 2001.
^ "Jan Thornhill wins $30K award for best Canadian children's book". CBC News. November 22, 2017.