AUTHOR / ILLUSTRATOR

Jeannette is the ABC's best selling Australian preschool author and illustrator. With over one million sales worldwide, her books have sold to over 14 countries and are in 7 different languages.

For fifteen years Jeannette has been working from home in her Melbourne based studio by the sea. She began her career with the well known, award winning book SCALLYWAG. Over the years Jeannette has enjoyed working with many other wonderful authors such as Paul Jennings, Donna Rawlins and Duncan Ball. Her most recent books include the WHOSE, YOYO and MY series and are all published by the ABC especially for preschool children.

When Jeannette's daughter was born in 1995, her work made a major turn away from her previously more complicated watercolour and pencil drawings. Wanting to create books for her new baby, Jeannette developed a vibrant new drawing style based on her daughter’s love of bright colours, animals and surprises. This winning formula has now resulted in over 30 very successful WHOSE, YOYO and MY books, in exciting new pre-school formats.

Jeannette's work as a writer has grown from a strong educational base, having previously worked as a teacher and curriculum writer. Children find her books full of fun stories and learning opportunities. Counting, naming objects and learning about colours, size and shapes, are just some of the integrated concepts Jeannette weaves into her brightly coloured books.

"I love coming up with new book ideas. I find it very exciting, even addictive, but the difficulty comes when you have to sit down and make those ideas really work for you and your readers. This is not always as easy as it looks. I find if I can maintain my sense of humour when the going gets tough, the process is always more playful and fun. When I'm having fun it always shows my the books."

Cartoon Workshop by Jeannette Rowe

The cartoon workshop is designed to help children (8years and up) to draw and develop their own cartoon characters. The workshop consists of a talk, a drawing demonstration and a practical workshop session, that takes about an hour and 15 minutes to complete.

Children will have the opportunity to engage in a unique drawing technique,
created especially by the author/illustrator Jeannette Rowe. This technique is designed to give confidence and enjoyment, while children improve their own drawing style.

If children have a strong interest at further developing their cartoon skills, a practical workshop book will be exclusively available for $5.50, once they have completed the workshop. This little booklet is full of practical tips and advice on how to go on developing their own cartoon characters, how to write about them and even how to develop their own cartoon strip.

Jeannette's Awards

YOYO HELPS CBC Notable book 2004	YOYO'S TOYS CBC Notable book 2003	YOYO Series APA Best Designed Children's Book Award, First Prize 2002
WHOSE Series APA Best Designed Children's Book Award, First Prize 1999	HIDDEN TREASURES NSW Premier's Literary Award - Children's History Books, Short-listed 1997	TEACHER-EATER YABBA Awards, short-listed 1992
SCALLYWAG YABBA Awards, short-listed 1991 and 1992	SCALLYWAG KOALA Awards, short-listed 1991	SCALLYWAG CBC Awards, short-listed 1991

"It was sensational. Jeannette is a captivating speaker with a very good manner with children at all levels."

- Aldercourt Primary School

"Jeannette's visit was very well received. The boys really loved the cartooning and would have liked to do a lot more - it fitted in very well with our programme."

- Karyn Murray, Southwood BGS

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