John Bianchi is an illustrator, cartoonist, artist and a children’s book author, now living and painting near Tucson, Arizona. He grew up in Rochester, New York, and moved to Canada as a young man where he learned to put his natural creative talent to work at animation studios.

In the late 1970s, he became Harrowsmith magazine’s favourite cartoonist and developed a following across Canada for his illustrated antics of would-be back-to-the-landers (beekeeping, dry walling, wood cutting, etc). He also contributed scientific illustrations to Equinox magazine and a number of renewable energy publications.

In 1986, he created a whacky kids book about a family of bumbling cowboys known as the Bungalo Boys. When he couldn’t find a publisher for his unusual story (the boys rode trees instead of horses and feuded with the Beaver Gang, a band of herbaceous tree rustlers), he joined Frank B. Edwards in the launch of Bungalo Books. Edwards had been his editor at both Harrowsmith and Equinox before moving to the magazines’ book publishing arm.

Over the next 15 years, John and Frank created 38 kids books together. As author and illustrator, John’s titles include:

• The Bungalo Boys: Last of the Tree Ranchers
• Princess Frownsalot
• Penelope Penguin: The Incredibly Good Baby
• The Swine Snafu
• The Toad Sleeps Over
• Snowed in at Pokeweed Public School
• The Lab Rats of Doctor Eclair
• The Artist

John illustrated all of Frank’s kids picture books, including:

• Mortimer Mooner Stopped Taking a Bath
• Melody Mooner Stayed Up All Night
• Robin Hood With Lots of Dogs
• Treasure Island with Lots of Dog
• The Greatest Zoo on Earth
• A Dog Called Dad
• Frogger
• Snow: Learning for the Fun of it.

Frank and John. Newburgh, Ontario. 1993.

John moved to Arizona in 1993 with his wife, Margaret, and two daughters. Today, John spends much of his time painting desert landscapes in the mountains near his home.

Visit John’s website.