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Jan Brett is an American writer and illustrator for children's picture books. She was born in 1949, making her 73 years old! She studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Jan has over forty-one million books in print, as she is truly a treasure! She knew as a child that becoming an illustrator was her passion, so she spent hours reading books and drawing pictures. She has shared that traveling is an inspiration for her books. As she visits different countries, she researches architecture and traditions and uses them as starting points for her children's books. Jan uses her traveling experiences to create characters and art for her books! Children can be exposed to new cultures and stories by reading her work.

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Written in 1996, tells the story of a young boy who loses a white mitten. This cute story shows the local woodland creatures use it as a shelter. With her distinctive artwork, Jan Brett creates a story that highlights details from Ukrainian traditions where the story originates from. This is a great read for younger kids, especially around the holiday season when it's snowy!

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Written in 1997, the main character, Matti, sets a clever trap for a runaway Gingerbread Baby! Another great holiday read, as the colors and characters are quite wintery. A cute story, with rhyming, cookies coming to life, and rambunctious behavior. This book is great for a younger student.

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This Goldilocks story includes a family of snow bears and an Inuit young girl. Jan Brett and her husband visited Iqaluit in the Nunavut Territory in Northern Canada. This was where Jan got the inspiration for this book!

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Jan Brett is actively on tour around the United States. She visits museums, bookstores, public libraries, and elementary schools. She travels on "Jan Brett's Winter Wonderland Tour" bus!

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Jan Brett writes children's books that are targeted at kids ages 3 to 8 years old. They are great for class read-alouds, or parents reading aloud to their kids.

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Jan Brett uses animals and the environment in most of her books! She emphasizes the importance of taking care of the environment and the brilliant experience of life. Some of her books incorporate a wintery, snowy landscape which can be considered a theme.
A theme that resides in Jan Brett's books is cultural experiences from other countries. Details can be found in characters' clothing, homes, language, or traditions. This is a great foundation to lay for younger kids. They can get exposed to cultural differences at an early stage, which is important in the classroom curriculum!

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Jan Brett has a pet hedgehog, Buffy! Her interest in hedgehogs began when she was just a kid reading books like Alice in Wonderland. Jan Brett even wrote a kid's book with the main character being a hedgehog! The book is called, The Hat.
Jan has also had pet chickens, which she has shown before!

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Jan Brett has her own website! Here is where you can find her tour destinations and dates, all of her book titles, and so much more! On her "Book List" tab, there is every book she has written and illustrated. Each book also has the place that it is set in! For example, her latest book, Cozy In Love, is set in Matanuska Valley, Alaska.
There's a section called, "Hedgie's Book a Matic", where individuals can answer questions about their interests and be paired up with the perfect book. I took this test and was recommended, Beauty and The Beast. A retold classic story by Jan Brett about a girl, a beast, and the animal servants of the palace.
There are all sorts of activities and coloring pages on her website as well. Among these activities, there are numerous videos she has included. Content like how to draw a hedgehog to her reading one of her books. This interactive website is a great tool for teachers to use if they are using one of Jan's books in their classroom. They can follow a whole class read-a-loud with one of her activities.

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Author Jan Brett’s Free Coloring, Video and Activity Pages

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A collection of projects and activities of books for kids, and classroom activities and lesson plans for teachers about particular subjects, curriculum areas, themes and professional topics.

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She loves trolls! She has written a few children's books that include a troll as a character!

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Jan Brett married Joseph Hearne in 1980. He has been a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1962. These two love to travel and experience the world together.

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Jan Brett has been awarded numerous awards for her work in children's literature, around 20! Some of these accomplishments include the Parent's Choice Award for Fritz And The Beautiful Horses, American Bestsellers for The Mitten, The First Dog, The Wild Christmas Reindeer, The Owl and The Pussycat, and Berlioz The Bear.

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Looking through some of her books, you can tell Jan has a very specific style that she sticks to. Her illustrations are the same from book to book! This makes her unique and noticeable. She uses watercolors and gouache to create her pictures, and there are always vibrant colors. It typically takes a full year for a book to be completed from manuscript to fully illustrated. Jan enjoys creating images that have the effect of being stitched or sewn. She also enjoys using real-life models when crafting the animals in her stories. There is usually a hidden hedgehog in Jan's books too! A fun easter egg to look for. In her books, there are typically borders that outline the main images and text. In those borders, there may be images on the left, or right, that predict what will happen next. Details like this make Jan Brett's books interactive and engaging for readers of all ages, especially the little kids.

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Jan Brett has combined several of her most beloved Christmas stories into one big book! This she calls, the Christmas Treasury. Included in this treasury are:
- The Night Before Christmas
- Trouble with Trolls
- Christmas Trolls
- The Mitten
- The Hat
- The Twelve Days of Christmas
- The Wild Christmas Reindeer
This fun collection is a great addition to any home library. My family has this specific treasure that we pull out and display every winter season. As a kid, one of my favorite things to do was to read through these Christmas-y tales as the snow came down. This combination of Christmas tales is definitely a notable accomplishment for Jan Brett.

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Amazing Read a louds For Kids. (2020, January 9). The mitten by: Jan Brett. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVdHH-hGBQw

Author Jan Brett’s free coloring, video and activity pages. Author Jan Brett’s Free Coloring, Video and Activity Pages. (n.d.). https://www.janbrett.com/

Encyclopedia.com. (2023, October 18). Jan Brett, 1949. Encyclopedia.com. https://www.encyclopedia.com/children/scholarly-magazines/brett-jan-1949

Martin, A. (2017, May 12). Jan Brett Techniques and Style. Illustrator Study. https://2017illustratorblogmartininfo263-10.weebly.com/techniques

Once Upon A Story. (2017, December 22). The three snow bears by Jan Brett: Children’s books read aloud on Once upon a story. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7nmw9zf7qQ

StoryTown. (2020, December 9). Gingerbread baby read aloud. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMMmqJMggwc