Jon Klassen

After studying animation at Sheridan College, Ontario, Klassen worked on various animated movies such as Kung Fu Panda and Coraline before finding widespread acclaim in 2011 with his delightfully deadpan picture book I Want My Hat Back. Tracing a bear’s investigations into his missing headgear, the story was praised for its dark ending and quickly became a cult classic. Two years later Klassen scooped both the prestigious Caldecott and Kate Greenaway Medals for the sequel This Is Not My Hat, and the closing part of the trilogy We Found a Hat arrived in 2016. His retelling of a Tyrolean folk tale The Skull was published in 2023. Klassen has illustrated numerous picture books for Mac Barnett, including the Shape trilogy and How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? as well as providing the artwork for Lemony Snicket’s The Dark.