Jill Barklem


Jill Barklem was a British writer and illustrator of children's books. Her most famous work is the Brambly Hedge series, published from 1980.

Early life

Jill Barklem was born as Gillian Gaze in Epping on 23 May 1951. Educated at Loughton High School, after an accident when she was thirteen resulting in a detached retina, she was unable to take part in PE or games at school and instead developed her talent for drawing and art. On leaving school, she studied illustration at St Martin's in London.

Illustrator

After graduating she became an illustrator for children's bibles. Her husband suggested that she turn her ideas conceived while commuting on the train journey to art school for a story about hedgerow life into a book. Barklem became a full-time illustrator, working on the expanding series of books about the mice of Brambly Hedge. She spent five years on research before she started to write her first stories about them.

Family life

Barklem married David Barklem in 1977; they had two children. Jill Barklem died, in London aged 66, on 15 November 2017, following a long undisclosed illness.

Works

Brambly Hedge series

Activity and "Toy and Moveable" books, include Primrose's Adventure and Wilfred's Birthday Sliding Pictures; some board books, such as House for a Mouse, Nice for Mice, and The Snow Ball; and Poppy and Dusty's Wedding.