Jill Barklem

Jill Barklem (born 1951) is a British writer and illustrator of children's books. Her most famous work is the Brambly Hedge series, published from 1980.

Biography

Jill Barklem was born in Epping in 1951. After an accident when she was thirteen, she was unable to take part in PE or games at school and instead developed her talent for drawing and art. On leaving school, she studied illustration at St Martin's in London. Barklem is a full-time illustrator, working on the expanding series of books about the mice of Brambly Hedge. She spent five years on research before she started to write her first stories about the mice of Brambly Hedge.^[1] Her interest in natural history and her curiosity about traditional rural customs and crafts have spilled over into these chronicles of hedgerow life.

Barklem is married and lives with her husband and her two children, Elizabeth and Peter, in a house near Epping Forest.

Works

Brambly Hedge series

• Spring Story (1980)
• Summer Story (1980)
• Autumn Story (1980)
• Winter Story (1980)
• The Secret Staircase (1983)
• The High Hills (1986)
• Sea Story (1990)
• Poppy's Babies (1994)

Other editions and titles

• "Four Seasons of Brambly Hedge" (1986) contains the 4 seasonal titles and a 20-page "conversation" with the author about the origins and developments of the stories.
• "Tales from Brambly Hedge" (1997) contains the other 4 original titles: Staircase, Sea, Hills & Babies
• "Adventures of the Mice of Brambly Hedge" (1998) is a joint publication version of Autumn Story and Sea Story
• "The Mice of Brambly Hedge Celebrate" (1998) is a joint publication version of Winter Story and Secret Staircase
• "Outings for the Mice of Brambly Hedge" (1999) is a joint publication version of Spring Story and The High Hills
• "Baby Mice in Brambly Hedge" (1999) is a joint publication version of Summer Story and Poppie's Babies
• "A Visit to Brambly Hedge" (2000) a 20th anniversary special background information book.
• "Wilfred to the Rescue" (2005)
• "A Year In Brambly Hedge" (2010)

Several activity and "Toy and Moveable" books, such as "Primrose's Adventure (Brambly Hedge Sliding Pictures)" & Wilfreds Birthday Sliding Pictures ; some board books, such as "House for a Mouse", "Nice for Mice", "The Snow Ball" and (probably) Poppy and Dusty's Wedding.

References

1. "Jill Barklem". HarperCollins Australia. Retrieved 18 March 2010.

External links

• The World of Brambly Hedge official site