Jana Novotny Hunter

Jana Novotny Hunter was born in Czechoslovakia and grew up in England. A graduate of Hornsey College of Art, she spent many years in America where she worked as a Textile Designer, Teacher, Writer and Mum. Jana has written over fifty books for children, including the prize-winning story of a deaf girl’s struggle to become oral, ‘Read My Lips’. Now and author and an illustrator, Jana enjoys portraying strong characters who overcome obstacles with humour and imagination. Stories that youngsters can relate to are key to her writing. As a Conference Speaker and Lecturer, Jana focuses on the relationship between image and text in picture books, an expertise that has led to becoming an editor as well as a reviewer.

At home with kids, whatever their age, Jana loves to visit schools and libraries or run writing workshops. Her lively presentations are popular with both teachers and pupils, offering the kind of fun in learning that enhances and supports the National Curriculum. Usually found in her studio, where her Terrier is lulled to sleep by the clatter of the keyboard, Jana lives in a converted chapel in the Suffolk countryside with a man, dog and a piano, There, she is surrounded by sheep, cows and wild deer – a perfect place to write and draw.

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