*This page gives you some background on the two major people behind the books. J.K. Rowling (the author), and Mary GrandPre (the illustrator).*
~About J.K. Rowling~
J.K. Rowling is a graduate of Exeter University and a qualified teacher. But it was while she was divorced and unemployed that she started work on the first Harry Potter book. Living on public assistance in a tiny Edinburgh flat with her young daughter, Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at a table in a café during her daughter's naps. The hard work and a vivid imagination soon paid off. First, the Scottish Arts Council gave Rowling a grant to finish the first book. After its sale to Bloomsbury (UK) and Scholastic Books, the accolades began to roll in. Harry Potter won The British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year, and the Smarties Prize, and received rave reviews from commentators in many countries. The Harry Potter series is now in its fourth volume and has topped the best seller list in many countries. The books are also constantly being translated to new languages so that kids from around the world can enjoy the magic of Harry Potter.
~About Mary GrandPre~
Educated at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Mary GrandPre began her career as a conceptual illustrator for local editorial clients. Continually experimenting with media, Mary underwent many artistic changes in her expressive visual form. Her concerns for light, color, drawing, and design came together in evocative, ethereal pastel paintings evolving toward a style she now calls "soft geometry". Mary's new work attracted corporate advertising and editorial clients.
Mary's work has received national recognition through awards received from: The Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, and Graphis, Print and Art Direction. Her work was chosen among thousands of illustrators to be on the cover of Showcase 16, and an article was written about her "conceptual editorial assignments" in Step-by-Step Graphics.
Additionally, Mary has now illustrated six beatiful children's books and is at work on the seventh. Her book illustration possesses higly personalized lyrical story interpretations and has received very favorable reviews in the national press.
It is unusual for an illustrator to work successfully in so many genres of illustration at one time, from advertising and corporate to editorial and children's books. She is now world-wide for her delightfully stunning illustrations.
