Jonathan London (author)

Jonathan London (born March 11, 1947) is an American writer of children’s books, best known as the author of the popular Froggy series.

Early life[]

London was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a career Navy officer and London lived with his parents and brother Jeff on or near Navy bases all over the country, including Puerto Rico, until he was 18 years old.^{[citation needed]} In college at San Jose State University he studied history and social sciences but became a poet. After receiving an MA in Social Sciences he joined a dance company in San Francisco, wrote poetry and short fiction, and travelled around the world.^[1]

Career[]

London published around 200 poems and short stories in literary magazines, worked in a union labor job, and didn’t make a living as a children’s book author until he was 45. His first published picture books were first told to his sons when they asked him to tell them a story. Aaron was five and Sean was two. They liked his stories so much he wrote them down, and one of them became FROGGY GETS DRESSED, which became a bestseller and is in on the New York Public Library 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know list.^[2] Since then he has published over 120 books,^[3] including 30 Froggy books.^[4][5] Over 16 million Froggy books have sold in North America, and they are published in 8 languages, including Mandarin, Russian, Persian, Greek, and Spanish. Many Froggy titles have appeared on the New York Times and other bestseller lists.^[6][7][8]

London also writes picture books about wildlife, including Pup The Sea Otter (illustrated by his son Sean London), and has published Aaron’s Wilderness Trilogy of middle grade novels: Desolation Canyon, Bella Bella, and Grizzly Peak (illustrated by Sean London).^{[citation needed]}

Awards[]

The Froggy series and other titles by London have received numerous awards and honors, such as the New York Public Library 100 Picture Books Everyone should Know list^{[9][10][11][12]}

References[]