Joe Jacobs

Joe Jacobs is the author and illustrator of the successful Terry the Monkey sign language series for children.

Joe's books have been praised by Julia Donaldson and Steve Backshall and are reviewed in Families, the magazine of the National Deaf Children’s Society, where they are tested by parents and children with deafness and hearing loss. Joe is a regular contributor to limpingchicken.com, the world’s most popular deaf blog, with nearly 6 million visitors. His writing has featured in The Guardian, Little London, and The Mummy Toolbox.

Joe is hearing and says: 'I first became interested in sign language when my wife and I taught our baby children to sign. Their first words were signed, not spoken. I drew signing monkeys for my children because I wanted them to continue to learn signs even once they were speaking. Signing clearly helped their language development and they loved it.'

Joe studied English Literature at UCL, where he was awarded the Campbell Clarke scholarship. Joe lives in Hampshire, England. When not writing and drawing, Joe teaches English to 11-18 year olds at a Multi Academy Trust.

Joe is developing further titles in the Terry the Monkey series, including a novel and a comprehensive sign language dictionary for children.

Praise Terry the Monkey:

‘This is terrific work…inspiring!’

Steve Backshall, BBC’s Deadly 60

‘Very nicely produced and interesting to me.’

Julia Donaldson CBE, former children’s laureate and author of The Gruffalo

‘I love this!’

Rachel Shenton, Oscar winning writer of The Silent Child and patron of the National Deaf Children’s Society

‘I very much enjoyed learning how to sign foods, my parents have a deaf friend who was very pleased to see what I had learnt!’

Tilly Ramsay, BBC’s Matilda and The Ramsay Bunch

‘A gentle and witty introduction for children to this vital skill.’

Joseph Kloska, Netflix The Crown, Disney’s Cinderella

‘The illustrations are beautiful and it’s a lovely book to read and look at…Terry the Monkey is a very likeable character and I hope we see more of him!' Alison, reviewing How to Sign Halloween in Families, the National Deaf Children's Society magazine

'How to Sign Animals with Terry the Monkey is an enjoyable and friendly introduction to British Sign Language (BSL), complete with colourful illustrations and easy-to-follow instructions. The book is a great resource for any family who would like to introduce their family to BSL...Amelie and I have explored the book together and she took it into school to share with her class friends too. It’s an ideal tool to help educate her peers about using sign language. It's beautifully illustrated and the instructions are very clear.' Sarah, reviewing How to Sign Animals in Families