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ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: Happy Chinese New Year!
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.chickengirldesign.com/
CITY: Ann Arbor
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 360
http://www.chickengirldesign.blogspot.com/ http://twitter.com/jannieho http://zero2illo.com/2010/05/12-week-challenge-inspiration-an-interview-with-jannie-ho/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Hong Kong; immigrated to United States at age nine; married (husband a mathematician): children: one daughter.
EDUCATION:Parsons, the New School of Design, B.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Illustrator and comics artist. Worked as a graphic designer for Nickelodeon and Scholastic and as art director for Time for Kids; freelance illustrator for clients including Target, Old Navy, Highlights for Children, Toys R Us, and Penguin. Presenter at schools.
WRITINGS
Author of Chickengirl Comics, a webcomic published on Instagram. Creator of mini-comics, including “Creative Obstacles ABC.” Contributor to periodicals, including Diabetic Living, High Five, Highlights for Children, and Time for Kids.
SIDELIGHTS
Children’s book illustrator, comic artist, and author Jannie Ho was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Pennsylvania, where her creative nature quickly surfaced. Eventually accepted at the prestigious Parsons School of Design, Ho originally intended to study fashion design but ended up earning a degree in illustration, favoring gouache as a medium. She then began her career in children’s publishing, designing graphics in the art departments of Nickelodeon and Scholastic, among others. In 2007, she decided to step away from design and focus on creating child-friendly illustration, and it has proved to be a win-win: she now does what she loves, and many more children have been inspired to break out in a smile, a laugh, or even a case of the giggles. About the Halloween-themed Guess Who? A Pop-Up Mask Book!, a Kirkus Reviews writer declared that “Ho’s cheery, smiling cartoons in bold colors imbue the title with a lively energy.” Appraising Ho’s self-illustrated Vehicles ABC in Kirkus Reviews, a critic asserted that her “bright, colorful artwork … hits all the right signals” in this “well-curated things-that-go abecedary.”
[open new]In addition to her dozens of self-illustrated titles and illustration efforts for other authors–and for toys and puzzles–Ho keeps fans entertained regularly with her Instagram-based Chickengirl Comics. Therein, as she reports on her home page, she draws herself “as a neurotic hen observing the details of everyday life.” Ho had a clucking-chicken alarm clock as a child, and by college her propensity for drawing chickens led to her getting nicknamed Chicken Girl. A Montserrat College of Art contributor observed, “Jannie works with digital media to create characters and illustrations full of innocence and charm that appeal to kids and adults alike; her use of shape and color never fail to bring out the joy in each piece she does.”[suspend new]
Beyond various drawing and board books, Ho made her self-illustrated picture-book debut with Bear and Chicken, featuring an unusual pair of animal friends. Large and lumbering, Bear is wandering through the woods one winter day, looking for ingredients for some stew. When he finds poor scrawny Chicken laying stiff in the snow, he rushes it back to his cozy den, where the fowl finally thaws out. Seeing a large black bear heating a soup pot, Chicken fears the worst, but Ho leads her friendship story to a surprise and upbeat ending. Nostalgic in design, Ho’s “bright, charming illustrations … suggest a sweetness and innocence,” noted Sally James in her review of Bear and Chicken for School Library Journal. A Kirkus Reviews writer also enjoyed the colorful picture book, noting that “Ho’s simple, humorous story provides a gentle lesson on prejudice and friendship.”
Ho’s illustration style has proved to be especially popular among younger children, and her “Tiny Tab” board books incorporate interactive elements known to appeal to the toddler set. “Ho’s cheery, digitally created cartoons” in Little Bubba Looks for His Elephant!, remarked a Kirkus Reviews writer, “will engage youngsters and offer a tour of preschool to the uninitiated to boot.” In Pookie Pop Plays Hide-and-Seek, a cute kitten seeks out several animal friends, with the reader’s help. “A vocabulary builder,” according to a Kirkus Reviews writer, this “happy book” is designed to “stand up to substantial toddler abuse.”
[resume new]Ho combines a numbers lesson with a globally celebrated holiday from her heritage culture in Happy Chinese New Year! A Festive Counting Story. The twelve well-attired animals of the zodiac, excited for the New Year, prepare by cleaning house, buying new clothes, and stashing lucky cash in envelopes. Along the way, young readers learn how to count to twelve in both English and Chinese, with the Chinese characters and their pronunciations included. The back matter explains Chinese New Year traditions in greater detail. In School Library Journal, Kristy Pasquariello hailed Happy Chinese New Year! as a “bright, inviting” book with “cute, humorous” illustrations.[close new]
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2009, review of The Great Reindeer Rebellion; August 1, 2011, reviews of Road Work Ahead and Halloween Howlers: Frightfully Funny Knock-Knock Jokes; September 1, 2012, review of The Great Christmas Crisis; July 1, 2013, review of Guess Who? A Pop-Up Mask Book!; July 1, 2014, review of Teeny Weeny Looks for His Mommy; January 1, 2015, review of Little Bubba Looks for His Elephant!; July 1, 2015, reviews of Cutie Pie Looks for the Easter Bunny, Pookie Pop Plays Hide-and-Seek, and Where Is Fluffy?; September 1, 2015, review of Christmas; January 1, 2017, review of If You’re Spooky and You Know It; August 15, 2017, review of Bear and Chicken; January 1, 2018, review of Halloween ABC; January 15, 2020, reviews of Hide-and-Seek at the Construction Site: A Hidden Pictures Lift-the-Flap Book and Vehicles ABC; December 1, 2021, review of Mitzi and the Big Bad Nosy Wolf: A Digital Citizenship Story; November 15, 2022, review of Science Play!
School Library Journal, November, 2008, Martha Simpson, review of The Haunted Ghoul Bus, p. 102; October, 2009, Mara Alpert, review of The Great Reindeer Rebellion, p. 84; November, 2017, Sally James, review of Bear and Chicken, p. 61.
ONLINE
Jannie Ho website, http://www.chickengirldesign.com (June 6, 2023).
Kirkus Reviews Online, http://www.kirkusreviews.com/ (October 18, 2016), review of Roly Poly Looks for Santa Claus.
Montserrat College of Art website, https://www.montserrat.edu/ (June 6, 2023), Kelly Quirk, “Gallery Interview with Visiting Artist Jannie Ho.”
School Library Journal Online, http://www.slj.com/ (December 1, 2022), Kristy Pasquariello, review of Happy Chinese New Year!
Wonderland, https://gregcookland.com/ (January 12, 2018), Greg Cook, author interview.
About Me!
My name is Jannie Ho (pronounced Jane-nee) and I write and illustrate children’s books. I’m also a cartoonist for Chickengirl comics, in which I draw myself as a neurotic hen observing the details of everyday life.
I was born in Hong Kong and moved to Philadelphia at the age of 9. I’ve always loved drawing but didn’t know much about careers in art, other than fashion design. So I moved to New York to study at Parsons School of Design in hopes of being a fashion designer. But during my freshman year, I saw the senior illustration thesis show. I knew that I had found my tribe and I was meant to be an illustrator.
After graduating, I worked as a designer and art director at fun places such as Nickelodeon, Scholastic, and TIME magazine for kids. It was from working at Scholastic Book Clubs that fueled my love for children’s books, and hoped that someday my books would end up in a flyer (it has!)
Now I illustrate books, magazines, games, stationery- mostly for kids! I also write my own stories. BEAR AND CHICKEN (Running Press Kids/Hachette) is a picture book about a Bear who finds a frozen Chicken in the snow and the misunderstanding that happens between them.
I live with my mathematician husband and daughter near Boston, MA. I grumble every winter about the snow and the cold here, but this is where I call home.
GALLERY INTERVIEW WITH VISITING ARTIST JANNIE HO
Jannie Ho, also known as Chicken Girl, is a prolific illustrator in the children’s market, illustrating not only narrative picture books and novelty books but also products like stickers, cards, puzzles, and other toys for young children. After receiving her BFA in Illustration from Parsons the New School of Design in New York and working for some time as a graphic designer for Nickelodeon and Scholastic, and as an art director at TIME magazine for kids, Jannie now works full time as an illustrator with clients such as Target, Old Navy, Highlights for Children, Toys R Us, Penguin, and many more! Her first author/illustrator debut picture book, BEAR AND CHICKEN, will be published this fall by Running Press Kids.
Jannie works with digital media to create characters and illustrations full of innocence and charm that appeal to kids and adults alike; her use of shape and color never fail to bring out the joy in each piece she does.
In her recent visit to Montserrat, Jannie Ho participated in Montserrat’s visiting Artist program, giving a public talk about her work, as well as stopping by the classroom to speak with Animation and Illustration seniors.
Jannie also took some time to answer a few questions as part of the Montserrat Galleries Take20 program which fosters communication between visiting artists and the Montserrat community, allowing students the opportunity to speak more in depth with artists. Keely Quirk ’18, a junior illustration student at Montserrat, spoke with Jannie about her work, her process and her inspirations – here’s what she had to say!
KQ: How did you get/choose the nickname Chicken Girl?
JH: I don’t remember when my love of chickens started, probably in my teens. Looking back, I had a chicken alarm clock that clucked when it went off during my childhood, so perhaps subconsciously it had an affect. In college, people started calling me Chicken Girl because I had a lot of chickens in my work. When I was thinking about a website domain name I went with chickengirldesign.com, and the nickname Chicken Girl really stuck online.
KQ: You received your BFA in illustration from Parsons The New School of Design. What kind of work did you do there and how do you think your work has evolved?
JH: I had gone to Parsons hoping to be in fashion design. I learned in my first year I liked illustration better. When I was there, I did not work digitally. My medium was gouache and during that time the internet and doing work on the computer was still a very new thing. I’ve always done work that was innocent. I also enjoyed doing abstract collages as well.
KQ: You mention on your website that you worked as a graphic designer at Nickelodeon and Scholastic after college – do you think that this work influenced your work as an illustrator? How did your process differ when doing this kind of work?
JH: I’m grateful I had the opportunity to work at these two places. I was a designer but the type of design was very illustrative and fun, so my illustration background really came into play. I was also able to commission illustration at these jobs which in turn helped me know about the process “behind the scenes.” Becoming a great designer certainly helped me become a better illustrator. They go hand in hand.
KQ: How does your process differ when work on sequential illustrations for books versus doing stand alone image illustrations such as your ABC illustration or surface design?
JH: Sequential illustrations and surface design are are different industries and I treat them as such. They have different rules to play by. My artwork has a little bit of both and it is wonderful to get to work in both industries, sometimes the line gets a little blurred. One of the first thing is that in book work, there needs to be a unique character and storytelling, where surface design sometimes cater to a mass market and needs to be more appealing for a general audience, at least in the type of projects I get.
KQ: Do you do most of your work digitally? What do you like about working this way?
JH: Yes, it was not always this way. I use to pencil sketch and scan it in, work on top of it /re-draw it in Illustrator. Since then, I do my sketches in gray scale directly in Illustrator, which saves me a step of scanning. Deadlines and turnarounds are so tight that it makes my life easier. Lately, I’ve been using the Procreate app on the iPad Pro with an Apple pencil. I get to work on sketches on the go this way, and it is nice getting more of a hand feel back in my work.
KQ: Who are some artists that have influenced your work – either stylistically or conceptually?
JH: From childhood, one of my favorites was Richard Scarry, who wrote and illustrated Busy, Busy Town. During my art school days, J Otto Siebold blew me away with his style at the time and encouraged me that I could do children’s books too. Now I’ve always been in love with many French illustrators; Marc Boutavant, Delphine Durand. I also love Mary Blair.
KQ: Do you have a favorite book that you have illustrated?
JH: They are like my children, it is hard to pick a favorite! But for now, a book that is very special to me is my first author/illustrator debut picture book, BEAR AND CHICKEN. It is being published by Running Press Kids this Fall.
KQ: Is there a type of work/a specific client/a specific project that you would like to do in the future?
JH: I would like to do more writing of my own books. I also have a secret wish of having my own animated series.
KQ: Where do you look to find inspiration for a piece?
JH: Inspiration comes from my daughter, who is now of the age group that reads picture books. As she gets older, I am hoping I can follow along and work on books for an older audience. I’ve always done very young work, for babies and toddlers.
KQ: Working with so many different clients, what are some things that you have learned about creating a brand/selling yourself in the industry?
JH: Do good work, always meet a deadline. Being an illustrator can be a very solitary industry but the tribe is such a great bunch, go out there and meet people, in person or online. Be involved! See if you can help someone else, start something fun. I’m constantly learning new things.
JANNIE HO Click here for artist's storybook portfolio
Born in Hong Kong and raised in Philadelphia, Jannie moved to New York to study illustration at Parsons School of Design. After working as a graphic designer and an art director at many fun places such as Nickelodeon, Scholastic, and TIME Magazine for Kids, she decided that illustration was her true calling. Jannie (also known as Chicken Girl) now specializes in illustrating for the children’s market, with her work appearing in both trade and educational books, magazines, toys, crafts and digital media. She currently works and plays in Boston, MA with her husband and daughter.
Below are Jannie's most recent projects, The Little Engine that could series (Grosset & Dunlap), Happy Chinese New Year!: A Festive Counting Story (Crown Books for Young Readers), Happy Halloween, Little Engine! by Matt Mitter (Grosset & Dunlap), Wheels on the Bus by Scarlett Wing (Cottage Door Press), Mitzi and the Big Bad Nosy Wolf by Teresa Bateman (Holiday House), Open the Easter Bunny's Door (Random House), Kawaii Cuties: Scratch Magic by Becky Herrick (Scholastic), The Holiday Hurry: A Tabbed Board Book by Matt Mitter (Grosset & Dunlap), Hello, My World (duopress labs), Watch Me Read and Draw series (Walter Foster Jr), Peep On a Perch (Peeps) by Andrea Posner-Sanchez (Random House), Mudpuppy's 4-IN-A-BOX Puzzle set, The Chicks in the Barn by Aly Fronis (little bee books), Bear And Chicken (Running Press), Transportation My Very Long Puzzle, Where's the Bear? - The Hide-and-Find Stacking Block Game (Peaceable Kingdom), Stuck on FunChristmas & Halloween ABC (Nosy Crow Ltd), Mudpuppy puzzle play set, Color-in paper Puzzles, Ludattica puzzles: Dinosaurs, Pirate Ship, The Farm, If You're Spooky and You Know It by Aly Fronis (little bee books), Space Explorers Jumbo Puzzle & Airplane Puzzle To Go (Mudpuppy), Cutie Pie Looks for the Easter Bunny, Wickle Woo has a Halloween Party, Snuggle Puppy looks for the perfect hug and Roly Poly looks for Santa Claus (nosy crow), Halloween ABCs was licensed to Pottery Barn Kids collection, Violet Rose's Sticker Activity Book (Nosy Crow Ltd), First Skills sticker activity books series (Scholastic Press), Pumpkin Pie Math Game (Scholastic), Pop-up and Play Farm by Maggie Bateson (Campbell Books), POOKIE POP PLAYS HIDE-AND-SEEK!, LITTLE BUBBA LOOKS FOR HIS ELEPHANT!, BUNNY BOO HAS LOST HER TEDDY! & TEENY WEENY LOOKS FOR HIS MUMMY! (nosy crow), Muddle Zoo (Barron's Educational), On the Road 12 Piece Puzzle (Mudpuppy), Let's Play! Sunny Farm & On the Farm Sticker kits by Peaceable Kingdom, Funny Faces: Dressing Up & On the Farm (Campbell), The Great Chritmas Crisis by Kim Norman (Sterling Children's Books), Road Work Ahead by Anastasia Suen (Viking Juvenile), The ABC Song App for iphone, ipad, and ipod touch by Curious Puppy, Muddle London (Magnetic Play Book) (Campbell), What Does Cow Say? written by Joan Holub (Cartwheel Books), You Can Draw Zoo Animals & You Can Draw Monsters and Other Scary Things (Picture Window Books), a 48-piece Fun Facts Puzzle: Under the Sea created for Silver Dolphin Books. Halloween Howlers: Frightfully Funny Knock-Knock Jokes written by Michael Teitelbaum (HarperFestival), Gift Card created for Target, and The Haunted Ghoul Bus & The Great Reindeer Rebellion by Lisa Trumbauer (Sterling).
See more of Jannie's art:
Jannie's personal website
PLAY Illustration
HO, Jannie. Happy Chinese New Year!: A Festive Counting Story. illus. by Jannie Ho. 28p. Crown. Nov. 2022. Board $10.99. ISBN 9780593562970.
Toddler-PreS--A group of cheerful Zodiac animals get ready to celebrate Chinese New Year in this bright, inviting counting story. As the animals prepare for the New Year by engaging in traditional activities such as cleaning the house, buying new clothes, and filling envelopes with "lucky money," young readers will also learn how to count to 12. Each spread shows the Chinese character, pronunciation, and English translation for the numbers one through 12. Cute, humorous illustrations will keep young readers' attention as they move through the day with the smartly dressed Zodiac animals. End pages explain more about the Chinese New Year traditions depicted in the story. VERDICT This board book is ideal for collections in need of more Lunar New Year books for the youngest set.--Kristy Pasquariello
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
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Source Citation
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Pasquariello, Kristy. "HO, Jannie. Happy Chinese New Year!: A Festive Counting Story." School Library Journal, vol. 68, no. 12, Dec. 2022, p. 69. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729547971/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=0d5033d9. Accessed 18 May 2023.