A short life of the author
Oliver Jeffers (born 1977) is one of the most successful and visually distinctive picture-book creators in the world. His books — which include How to Catch a Star (2004), The Incredible Book Eating Boy (2006), Lost and Found (2005), The Heart and the Bottle (2010), and Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth (2017) — have sold over fifteen million copies in over forty languages. He is also a fine artist whose paintings and installations have been exhibited internationally.
Life and Career
Jeffers was born in Port Hedland, Western Australia, to Northern Irish parents. He grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and attended the University of Ulster, where he studied visual communication. He moved to New York City and has lived in Brooklyn since 2008.
How to Catch a Star (2004) — his debut picture book, about a boy who wants to catch a star — established his visual style: childlike figure drawing (stick-limbed characters with large heads) combined with sophisticated mixed-media backgrounds (paint, collage, found materials). The simplicity of his character drawing is deceptive; his compositions are carefully balanced and his color palette is distinctive.
Lost and Found (2005) — about a boy who befriends a penguin — won the Nestlé Children’s Book Prize and was adapted into an animated short film. The book’s emotional arc — from loneliness to connection to the realization that love means letting go — is handled with remarkable restraint for a picture book.
Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth (2017) — written for his newborn son — is his most ambitious and widely read work: a guide to the planet Earth for a new arrival, touching on geography, diversity, nature, kindness, and wonder. It is used in schools worldwide and has become a modern classic of the form.
Jeffers’s fine art practice — paintings, installations, and collaborations — runs parallel to his picture-book work and influences it. He has painted murals on buildings across several continents.
Key Works
- How to Catch a Star (2004)
- Lost and Found (2005)
- Here We Are (2017)
- The Heart and the Bottle (2010)
Collecting Jeffers
How to Catch a Star first edition (HarperCollins Children’s, 2004) — debut — brings $50–$200. Here We Are first edition (Philomel, 2017) signed brings $40–$100. Jeffers signs at events and his prints and limited editions are actively collected. His original art is exhibited and sold through galleries, bringing $5,000–$50,000+. UK first editions (HarperCollins Children’s) are typically the true firsts for early titles; US editions (Philomel) are sometimes simultaneous.