J.C. Phillipps

J. C. Phillipps is an author/illustrator originally from Toledo, OH.

As a young girl, Phillipps showed a talent for art. She regularly took Saturday morning art lessons at the Toledo Museum of Art and learned watercolor technique from her grandfather, who worked in advertising. In her teenage years, she discovered a love of theater acting and playwriting.

She received a BA in Art and Theater from Hope College in Holland, MI, then went on to get her MA in Theatre Education from Emerson College in Boston. After graduation she taught college level mask-making at Emerson College as well as worked at an after-school program in the afternoons. It was at the after-school program that Phillipps rediscovered the beauty of pictures books and decided to pursue it as a career. She felt that picture books would be a perfect way to showcase her art background and her playwriting education.

In 2006, Phillipps won a PEN New England award for illustration for her un-published children's book, Annabelle's Art. Phillipps has since published four picture books: Wink: The Ninja Who Wanted to Be Noticed, Viking 2009, Wink: The Ninja Who Wanted to Nap, Viking 2011, Monkey Ono, Viking 2012, and The Simples Love a Picnic, Houghton Mifflin 2013, which was featured in the NY York Times Sunday Book Review. Then she jumped genres and created the Pacey Packer Unicorn Tracker graphic novel series. She is now working on a new spooky graphic novel series, the first book is The Ghost in Cabin 13.

Phillipps lives in Connecticut with her husband, son, and two cats: Boris and Natasha.