Jill Barton grew up near Manchester during the Second World War. Every summer his parents would pack their green trunk; his father would take it to the station on a wheelbarrow; and the family would leave war-torn Manchester to spend a weeks with his maternal grandparents in Bedfordshire at their farmhouse. Barton has always loved drawing and when he left school at 16, he checked out the Manchester School of Art. During those days, there were no courses specializing in illustration, so he didn’t pursue his dream. Then, when he was 44, after his 3 children were grown up, he decided to try again. He took a foundation course, and the proceeded to take a degree in illustration. Barton graduated at 48, having enjoyed every moment of being a mature student. With impeccable timing, Walker Books offered him his first book just before his degree show.
He later taught on the same course and combined both careers until it became too much and he had to choose between them. And he chose to illustrate children’s books something that has changed his life completely. But the most satisfying and exciting thing of all he says is to know that many children are reading and enjoying his work. His little grandchildren think that every grandfather draws pictures in books. Barton does not write the stories he illustrates, so he has to wait for a suitable text to come to him. He’s had some brilliant stories to work on. He loves gently humorous stories which are full of body language and movement.
