
Jonathan Bentley grew up in West Yorkshire, England where his love of drawing and the great outdoors was encouraged by a creative and adventurous family.

He went on to study illustration at Brighton Polytechnic and now spends his life living and working between Australia/New Zealand and Europe with his wife Maripaz and two children Harvey and Ruby.
Jonathan is an award-winning illustrator who has worked on over forty books for authors including Margaret Wild, Andrew Daddo, Shaun Micallef, Patrick Guest, Glenda Millard and Lian Tanner. Jonathan has also written and illustrated six of his own books which are enjoyed by children all around the world.
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CO-VID Initiative:
Jonathan's book Windows was written by author Patrick Guest - about his experience of having to isolate himself from his family. Pat works in hospitals as a physiotherapist (as well as an author) and his eldest son Noah has duchenne muscular dystrophy, which means he is extremely vulnerable to Covid-19.
The free downloadable video below was made to share as quickly as possible in the hope it might be helpful for families and children.
You can also go to www.windowsthebook.com for more information.
Awards
Jonathan's book Ella and the Ocean, written by Lian Tanner, published by Allen and Unwin, recently won the Minister for the Art's Prize for Books for Young Readers and Children, at the Tasmanian Literary Awards.
This is the Second prize for the book after winning the Patricia Wrighton Prize for Children's literature at the NSW Premier's Literary Awards in 2020.
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Testimonials
Jonathan was great with the boys. He read to them, explained his writing and illustrating processes and then invited the boys to draw ideas that he could use in his new book. The boys were totally engaged for the session.
The Southport School - August, 2024Jonathan was wonderful! The student's were extremely engaged with his presentation and immensely enjoyed listening to him.
Queen of Apostles CPS - August, 2024Jonathan was very down to earth, friendly and engaging. He adjusted his presentation to suit the cohort his was interacting with in each session. (High school, middle school & juniors) And happily linked his stories to the curriculum for each sector.
Western Suburbs State Special School - August, 2024Our heartfelt thanks to Jonathan for his amazing sessions at Queen of Apostles School. I have heard nothing but high praise for him from both students and staff. Apparently he went above and beyond and everyone was thrilled to bits with his visit.
Queen of Apostles School Stafford - August, 2023Jonathan was prepared and professional and a hit with the kids. He was engaging and interesting and held the audience very well.
St. Francis Xavier, Goodna - August, 2023

When the Lights Went Out

Windows

Cat and Dog

Ella and the Ocean

Where is Bear?

The Second Sky

Tales from a Tall Forest

We are All Equal

Is Bear Here?

Old Friends, New Friends

Blue Sky Yellow Kite

Things My Pa Told Me

A House of Her Own

Little Big

First Day
Victoria
Speaker type
- Author
- Illustrator / Designer
Audience
- Prep - Year 2
- Year 3-6
Links
Featured Speakers
Stop Press
Get in quick to book your preferred speakers!
Don't forget to check out the Touring Speakers page as we have lots of speakers on the move this year.
We look forward to hearing from you soon!
New Releases See all books
Touring Speakers See all tour dates
| Speaker | Location | Tour dates | Book now |
|---|---|---|---|
Sydney - Last Day | 12 Jun - 12 Jun 2026 | ||
Perth - Last Day | 26 Jun - 26 Jun 2026 | ||
Brisbane | 01 Jul - 31 Aug 2026 | ||
Brisbane | Gold Coast | Sunshine Coast | 30 Jul - 31 Jul 2026 | ||
Brisbane | Gold Coast | Sunshine Coast | 06 Aug - 07 Aug 2026 |
What people are saying
We’ve had our Author Visit with Catherine Bateson during Book Week and thoroughly enjoyed it.
We were thrilled to welcome Ady and Adam, authors of Luna Roo, to Randwick Public School today to read to our Kindergarten students. Their engaging storytelling and professional presentation had students truly captivated and joining in with enthusiasm. Thank you for planning such an interactive, creative and visually memorable reading event. It was just delightful!
We welcomed Michelle back to our school after the popular response from our Upper primary students and staff. This year she visited with our Lower primary students and staff who loved her enthusiasm for poetry and gave them wonderful tips on title ideas, where ideas can come from and the importance of favourite words. "Best author visit to date"
Benjamin Gilmour is a very engaging speaker with a wealth of personal experience and wonderful anecdotes. Given the breadth of his creativity in writing as well as film, no student leaves his talks without being touched in some way.
Annie was one of the absolutely superlative presenters at our literature carnival this year. As a group, they expanded the students munitions of creativity and were very well received by all staff. Their presentations were highly engaging as they were diverse. Students had a full immersion into the world of the writer, storyteller and illustrator. I personally wish to express my gratitude to their unbounding energy and galvanising a week of learning and fun into the minds of our students and tea [...]
Dimity was very entertaining, lots of valuable information. I would love to attend more of Dimity’s workshops
I would once again like to extend my warmest thanks for your visit on Friday. The feedback we have received from students has been tremendous. You are not only a talented author but a respected and talented mentor.
I invited Angie to speak at an event at the School of Languages and Cultures, The University of Queensland (15-16 August, 2025). Angie gave a beautiful presentation and book reading; the audience included undergraduate and postgraduate students, academics, professional translators, and members of the general public, and this wide-ranging audience was both moved and inspired by her presentation. Angie’s joyful cross-cultural approach was perfectly suited to the event, and she also provided a live [...]
Sarah was fabulous! Her presentation was jam packed full of useful information and I have had lots of positive feedback from everyone who attended.
We recently held a Literature & Arts Festival at St. Catherine's Catholic College, The Whitsundays for our Secondary students. All the authors that attended were entertaining, engaging and inspiring. I have had so much positive feedback from students, staff and library colleagues. The students have all been raving about how excellent the festival was, and they were disappointed at the thought of returning to classes for the rest of the week. I have had reluctant readers coming into the library t [...]



