Jon Klassen

Jon Klassen is a Canadian author and illustrator of children’s books and a former film animator, known for his minimalist, deadpan visual style and darkly humorous picture books. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1981, he grew up in Southern Ontario, including Niagara Falls and Toronto, and studied film animation at Sheridan College, graduating in 2005 before working on animated films such as Coraline and Kung Fu Panda 2.

Klassen is the creator of the best‑selling Hat Trilogy—I Want My Hat Back, This Is Not My Hat, and We Found a Hat—with This Is Not My Hat winning both the Caldecott Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal. He has also written and illustrated picture books including The Rock from the Sky and The Skull, and frequently collaborates with Mac Barnett as illustrator of titles such as Extra Yarn, Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, and the Shape Trilogy: Triangle, Square, and Circle. Originally from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Klassen now lives in Los Angeles, California*.