Hello, and welcome! Thanks for visiting. I’m a children's author and illustrator based in Boulder, Colorado. I aim to help young readers discover beauty and wonder in the world through picture books that are inspiring, accessible and memorable. Please have a look around to explore my art and illustration.
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Jessica Lanan is the Sibert and Golden Kite Honor winning author and illustrator of Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider and The Fisherman and the Whale, a Colorado Book Award finalist and winner of the Bull-Bransom Award for wildlife art. She has illustrated many other books including The Lost Package by Richard Ho, Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet by Curtis Manley and Thank You Moon by Melissa Stewart.
Jessica grew up surrounded by nature in the Rocky Mountains. She earned a BA in sculpture from Scripps College and after graduation traveled solo for a year through Japan, Thailand, Laos, and India on a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to study and illustrate folk tales. She brought a set of travel watercolors on that trip and has been a devoted painter and storyteller ever since. Today Jessica aims to help young readers discover the beauty and wonder of their world by creating picture books that are inspiring, accessible, and memorable. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.