Author Study- Jan Brett

     I was very blessed to be able to see Jan Brett in person when she came to Hastings in 2010. Jan, a Massachusetts native, has wanted to be an illustrator since she was a young girl.  Her love for picture books helped her feel like she could be part of the book. Her goal when she illustrates her books is for children to feel themselves to be a part of the story.
     One of the neatest things about Jan's books is how she incorporates what she has discovered in her travels. In each of her books, the setting is specific to another country.
     When I saw Jan, she shared that she wrote the 3 Little Dassies to bring attention to a little known animal from
South Africa. When visiting there, she watched dassies playing and saw them run when an eagle swooped over.  This caused her to think of the 3 Little Pigs and thus was born 3 Little Dassies.
     Jan was a delight to see and fully engaged her audience of all ages. We got to see her draw a dassie like the ones in her book and she encouraged everyone to pursue his or her dreams.




Sources:
JanBrett.com
Scholastic.com
Good Reads blog

Teacher Resources and Curricular connections:
From Jan's own site!
Scholastic-Teacher share
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