Stephen Wilkins Jenkins (March 31, 1952 – December 26, 2021) was an American children's book author. He illustrated, wrote, and art-directed over 80 books.
Biography
Jenkins was born March 31, 1952, in Hickory, North Carolina, to Alvin and Margaret Jenkins. His father, who was a physics professor and astronomer, did research and taught at various universities, so he spent much of his childhood moving from one city to the next.
He received a bachelor's and master's from the School of Design at North Carolina State University (NCSU). During his time at NCSU, he met his wife, Robin Page. After graduating, the couple moved to New York City, and in 1982, founded their own graphic design firm, Jenkins & Page. In 1994, they moved to Boulder, Colorado.
Jenkins's debut book, Duck’s Breath and Mouse Pie, was published in 1994.
Jenkins died on December 26, 2021, of a splenic artery aneurysm, in Boulder, Colorado.
Awards and honors
Forty-four of Jenkins's books are Junior Library Guild selections.
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books included the following books in their lists of the best books of the year: How to Swallow a Pig (2015) and Animals by the Numbers (2016). The Horn Book Magazine has included the following books in their lists of the best children's nonfiction books of the year: The Top of the World (1999), Life on Earth (2002), Invisible Allies (2005), and The Animal Book (2013).
Selected works
As author and illustrator
- Duck's Breath and Mouse Pie: A Collection of Animal Superstitions (Ticknor & Fields, 1994)
- Animals in Flight
- What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?
- How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships, illustrated by Robin Page (Clarion Books, 2010)
As illustrator only
- One Nighttime Sea, written by Deborah Lee Rose (Scholastic, 2003)
- Vulture View, illustrated by April Pulley Sayre (Henry Holt & Company, 2007)
- Pug and Other Animal Poems, written by Valerie Worth (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013)
- Squirrels Leap, Squirrels Sleep, written by April Pulley Sayre (Henry Holt & Co., 2016)
References
External links
- Official website
