Jeram | Art of the Book

Anita Jeram (b. 1965)

Anita Jeram was born and brought up in Portsmouth. She took a foundation course in visual studies at Manchester Polytechnic and went on to take a degree in Illustration. Her first book Bill’s Belly Button was published the year following her graduation and the second, It was Jake!, was included on the National Curriculum SAT reading list. Her illustrations for Guess How Much I Love You written by Sam McBratney have been a global phenomenon, with a million copies of the book printed in only the first year of publication. It was shortlisted for the 1994 Kurt Maschler Emil Award, for the l994 British Book Awards (Illustrated Children’s books category) and was winner of the l996 American Bookseller’s Book of the Year Award, and has gone on to become a cultural icon worldwide. Other award-winning picture books include Contrary Mary which was shortlisted for the Nottinghamshire Children’s Book Award in l996 and The Most Obedient Dog in the World shortlisted for the Sheffield Children’s Book Award in l994.