The Fan Brothers

Terry Fan and Eric Fan are American-born Canadian children's book writers and illustrators, known collectively as the Fan Brothers. They made their picture book debut with The Night Gardener (2016), which was named an ALA Notable Children's Book.

Biography

The siblings were both born in the United States (Terry in Illinois and Eric in Hawaii),^[1] and grew up in Toronto, Canada.^[2] They both studied at OCAD University.^[3]

Known professionally as the Fan Brothers,^[4][5] they made their picture book debut in 2016 with The Night Gardener, which they wrote and illustrated.^[1] The book earned positive reviews in Kirkus,^[6] Publishers Weekly,^[7] Quill & Quire,^[8] and BookPage.^[9] The Night Gardener was named an ALA Notable Children's Book^[10] and was a finalist for the Cybils Award for children's literature.^[11]

In 2018, the Fan Brothers published Ocean Meets Sky. A review in Quill & Quire called the book's illustrations "truly breathtaking".^[12] The book was shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal for children's book illustration^[13] and for the Governor General's Award for English-language children's illustration.^[14]

The Fan Brothers collaborated with their youngest brother, Devin Fan, on his book debut, The Barnabus Project (2020)^[15].^[5] The book, released in September 2020, has earned positive reviews in the Canadian Review of Materials^[5] and Kirkus.^[16] The book won the Governor General's Award for English-language children's illustration at the 2020 Governor General's Awards.

Selected works

As authors and illustrators

• The Night Gardener (2016) ISBN 9781786030412
• Ocean Meets Sky (2018) ISBN 9781786035622
• The Barnabus Project (2020), with Devin Fan ISBN 9780735263260

As illustrators

• The Darkest Dark (2016), by Chris Hadfield ISBN 9781529013610
• The Antlered Ship (2018), by Dashka Slater ISBN 9781786031068
• The Scarecrow (2019), by Beth Ferry ISBN 9780062475763

References

1. "In conversation: The Fan Brothers". Publishers Weekly. 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
2. Coulter, Emilie (2020-05-28). "The Fan Brothers Plus One: Collaborative Mischief". Shelf Awareness. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
3. Goedhart, Bernie (2016-02-20). "Mysterious stranger brings wonderfully artistic surprises in The Night Gardener". The Gazette. p. 54. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
4. Danielson, Julie (2018). "Author Interview - Terry Fan, author of Ocean Meets Sky". BookPage.com. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
5. Bryan, Gregory; Payjack, Craig (2020-04-03). "The Barnabus Project". CM: Canadian Review of Materials. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
6. "THE NIGHT GARDENER". Kirkus. 2015-12-15. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
7. "Children's Book Review: The Night Gardener by Terry and Eric Fan. Simon & Schuster, $17.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-4814-3978-7". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
8. "The Night Gardener". Quill and Quire. 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
9. "Book Review - The Night Gardener by Terry Fan". BookPage.com. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
10. "2017 Notable Children's Books". Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). 2017-12-05. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
11. "2016 Finalists: Fiction Picture Books". Retrieved 2020-08-01.
12. "Ocean Meets Sky". Quill and Quire. 2018-06-04. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
13. "Eric and Terry Fan, Jon Klassen shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal". Quill and Quire. 2019-03-20. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
14. Balser, Eric (2018-10-03). "The finalists for the 2018 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — illustrated books". CBC. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
15. "The Fan Brothers". Just Imagine. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
16. "THE BARNABUS PROJECT". Kirkus. 2020-05-15. Retrieved 2020-08-01.