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.

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.