Authors and illustrators
Jakob Martin Strid
Jakob was born and grew up in Denmark. He began his career as a cartoonist and had his breakthrough with the general public with a daily strip entitled ‘Strid’ in the Copenhagen daily, Politiken. The strip’s main character’s diminutive body and large head with spiky hair is a cartoon version of himself. His satirical talent quickly won Strid a position as a controversial cartoonist.
The anti-authoritarian, humorous, and poetic blend continued in Strid’s children’s books, though in a form that was less harsh. There the political satire was transformed to an anarchistic, humorous tale with great sympathy for the foreigner and the outsider. With the picture book Little Frog (2005), Jakob Martin Strid won a picture book competition sponsored by the largest Danish publishing house, Gyldendal. The book went on to win the BØFA (a children's librarians' group) Cultural Honorary Award. Click to see Jakob's website. |
Ben Frey
Ben was born in Calgary, Canada but has spent almost 97% of his life on the west coast of British Columbia. Growing up in such a beautiful place inspired Ben at a young age to learn to create. In the first grade, he first realized that he could draw when he noticed that his letter 'O' looked like a character from a comic strip. It was all downhill from there! After graduating from Vancouver’s Capilano College's Illustration and Design program in 2007, Ben has been working as a freelance illustrator. Drawing has always been his passion and enjoys illustration as a career. Ben also works with his folk band, Adelaide, and will soon begin recording on an album...and enjoying the beauty of that part of the world that initially inspired him to be an artist.
Click to see Ben's website. |