Cannell, Jon(Jonathan C. Cannell)

Personal

Male. Education: Art Center College of Design, B.F.A., 1992.

Addresses

Home—WA. Agent—Lilla Rogers Studio, 6 Parker Rd., Arlington, MA 02474.

Career

Illustrator. Senior designer at Fitch, 1992-98, and Starbucks Coffee, Seattle, WA, 1998-2000; owner, Jon Cannell Design and Illustration, 2000—.

Illustrator

Marc McCutcheon, The Kid Who Named Pluto; and the Stories of Other Extraordinary Young People in Science, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 2004.

Mary Tavener Holmes, My Travels with Clara, J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, CA), 2007.

Sidelights

After working as a commercial illustrator for several years, Jon Cannell turned his hand to creating artwork for children's books in 2004 with the publication of The Kid Who Named Pluto; and the Stories of Other Extraordinary Young People in Science. Written by Marc McCutcheon, The Kid Who Named Pluto offers young readers the story behind nine accomplished scientists who began their careers while nearly children themselves. Examples include Philo Farnsworth, who at age fourteen designed early plans for the television set, as well as Mary Anning, who discovered the fossilized remains of an ichthyosaur at age twelve. "Sprightly" sketches by Cannell accompany each of these minibiographies, noted Booklist critic Jennifer Mattson, the critic adding that these images "convey the gung-ho enthusiasm that links all the subjects." In School Library Journal Steven Engelfried also commented favorably on Cannell's contributions, suggesting the "lively cartoon pen-and-ink illustrations … help to unify the individual chapters."

In 2007, Cannell added illustrations to another book for children, Mary Tavener Holmes's My Travels with Clara. Set in the mid-1700s, the book retells the true

story of a Dutch sea captain's purchase of a rhinoceros named Clara. After buying the orphaned creature in India, Donwe Van de Meet took his acquisition to Rotterdam, and from there the captain and Clara toured the major cities of Europe in a carriage built especially for the rhino. As most Europeans had never seen a rhinoceros before, Clara became a source of fascination for citizens, royalty and commoner alike. In addition to photographs of some of the period artwork Clara inspired, My Travels with Clara also features original illustrations by Cannell that were described favorably by School Library Journal critic Margaret Bush as "simple sketches washed in watercolor" and by a Kirkus Reviews critic as "simply drawn cartoons."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 2004, Jennifer Mattson, review of The Kid Who Named Pluto; and the Stories of Other Extraordinary Young People in Science, p. 1361; October 1, 2007, Hazen Rochman, review of My Travels with Clara, p. 62.

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2004, review of The Kid Who Named Pluto, p. 273; August 15, 2007, review of My Travels with Clara.

School Library Journal, June, 2004, Steven Engelfried, review of The Kid Who Named Pluto, p. 128; August, 2007, Margaret Bush, review of My Travels with Clara, p. 100.