Jon J Muth

Jon J Muth‘s highly acclaimed picture books are beloved around the world and have been translated into more than ten languages. His mother was an art teacher and she took him to museums all over the US. He had his first one-man exhibit of paintings and drawings when he was eighteen.

Jon studied stone sculpture in Japan; paintings, prints and drawings in Austria, Germany, and England. After the birth of his first son, Jon J Muth felt the need to do a different kind of work that explored his relationship with “this new little being.” Over the next decade, Muth wrote and illustrated many inspiring picture books, including the “Zen” series, and Caroline Kennedy’s poetry anthologies.

Muth’s work has received much critical acclaim. Zen Shorts was named a Caldecott Honor Book and spent 41 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Jon has also been awarded the Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators, a Sydney Taylor Award, a National Parenting Book Award, and he was a Book Sense book of the Year finalist. In June 2010, Jon illustrated City Dog, Country Frog, written by Mo Willems.

Muth lives in upstate New York with his wife and four children, where they love to fly kites and ride bikes.