Jack Kent (illustrator)

Jack Kent (1920–1985) was a prolific author and illustrator of nearly forty children's books. In addition to his own books, he also served as illustrator for nearly twenty books by other authors.

Career

Born in Burlington, Iowa, Kent dropped out of high school at the age of fifteen and began a career as a freelance commercial artist until he joined the U.S. Army in 1941. His first nationally recognized work was the "King Aroo" comic strip which was syndicated and distributed internationally from 1950 to 1965. He began writing and illustrating children's books in 1968. He continued to write and illustrate children's books until his death in 1985 from leukemia.

Awards

Jack Kent's book "Just Only John" received awards from the Chicago Graphics Associates and the Children's Book Clinic. The "New York Times" named his book "Mr. Meebles" outstanding picture book of the year.

Selected works

*1987 "Jack Kent's Valentine Sticker Book" ISBN 0-590-32400-4
*1985 "The Caterpillar and the Polliwog"
*1985 "Joey Runs Away"
*1984 "Joey"
*1984 "Round Robin"
*1981 "Jack Kent Sticker and Drawing Book" ISBN 0-590-32312-1
*1981 "Little Peep"
*1981 "The Biggest Shadow in the Zoo" ISBN 0-8193-1048-4
*1978 "Socks For Supper"
*1978 "Jack Kent's Cindy Lou and the Witch's Dog"
*1978 "Piggy Bank Gonzales"
*1976 "There's No Such Thing as a Dragon"
*1975 "The Christmas Pinata"
*1974 "Bremen Town Musicians"
*1974 "Jack Kent's Hop, Skip, and Jump Book: An Action Word Book"
*1973 "Mrs. Mooley"
*1973 "Jack Kent's 12 Days of Christmas"
*1972 "Jack Kent's Fables of Aesop"
*1972 "Dooley and the Snortsnoot"
*1971 "The Fat Cat: A Danish Folktale"
*1971 "The Wizard of Wallaby Wallow" also released as "The Wizard and His Magic Spells")
*1970 "The Blah"
*1970 "Mr. Meebles"
*1969 "Clotilda" (also released as "Clotilda's Magic")
*1969 "The Grown-Up Day"
*1968 "Just Only John"

Illustrations for other Authors

*1985 "The Twiddle Twins' Haunted House" (by Howard Goldsmith)
*1985 "Q Is for Duck: An Alphabet Guessing Game" (by Marcia McClintock Folsom and Mary Elting)
*1985 "Easy As Pie: A Guessing Game of Sayings" (by Marcia Folsom and Michael Folsom)
*1982 "If You Grew Up with George Washington" (by Ruth Belov Gross) (later printings are illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully instead of Jack Kent)
*1979 "No One Noticed Ralph" (by Bonnie Bishop)
*1978 "Janie and the Giant" (by Sarah Barchas)
*1977 "More Spaghetti, I Say!" (by Rita Golden Gelman) (later printings after 1987 are illustrated by Mort Gerberg instead of Jack Kent)
*1977 "The Emperor's New Clothes" (by Ruth Belov Gross)
*1976 "The Magic Carrot Seeds" (by Carla Stevens)
*1976 "Why Can't I Fly" (by Rita Golden Gelman)
*1975 "I Was Walking Down the Road" (by Sarah E. Barchas)
*1974 "The Bremen-town Musicians" (by Ruth Belov Gross)

References

* [http://special.lib.umn.edu/findaid/html/clrc/clrc0150.html Biographical/Historical Notes] , Special Collections and Archives, University of Minnesota.