 One of my favorite childhood memories is of evenings when my sister and
I would snuggle up with my Dad on the living room couch as he read us
bed time stories. Together we crept through the thick night jungle
with Mowgli and faced the executioner in the dungeon with Bartholomew
Cubbins; we were shipwrecked with Scuppers The Sailor Dog and met a
ladybug with Little John Little. I have always loved stories.
I have also always loved to draw. In second grade, my Mother gave me a
thin spiral bound book that had a poem in the corner of each spread.
The rest of the spread was completely blank, except for a line at the
bottom of the page that named the author of the poem, and then said
"Illustrated by:" and a blank line for the illustrator to fill in her
name. I treasured this book, and enjoyed being the 'Illustrator' of the
poems. I went on to illustrate my elementary school's handbook cover
with "Nutkin" the squirrel (mascot of 'Hollow Tree School'), and won
the book fair poster contest with my 'Enchanted Forest Book Fair'
poster in 5th grade.
Later in high school after spending summers working with preschool
children at a YMCA day camp, I decided to become an art teacher when I
went to college. During college, however, I discovered that jobs for
art teachers were scarce, so I changed my major to illustration and
transferred to Philadelphia College of Art. I began focusing primarily
on editorial illustration, but then one day went to hear Maurice
Sendak speak about the creation of "Where The Wild Things Are." I was
fascinated and from then on, I began looking at, admiring and
collecting picture books.
After graduating from Philadelphia College of Art, I moved to the
Washington, D.C. area. On arrival, I went to have my resume done, so
that I could find a job while I developed my freelance illustration
clients (which didn't exist at that point). The owner of the shop
hired me to do their graphics. One day Polly Greenberg, a local
author, came in to have her resume done. She told me that her publisher
was looking for an illustrator for her latest book, "I Know I'm Myself
Because." I showed her some of my illustrations and she forwarded
them to the publisher. When the call came from the publisher offering
me a contract to illustrate the book, I jumped up and down so hard that
I broke the heel off my shoe! (My job didn't last long at "The Resume
Place".) And so it all began....
I now live outside Washington, D.C. in Bethesda, Maryland with my
husband, Kevin, our children, Bethany (14) and Brendan (12), our dog,
Ruby and our fish, Bob. It's a busy life, and I do a lot of driving,
but I've found that great ideas can pop up in the car, so I'm often
scribbling away at red lights. (That's how the first draft of "Ten
Timid Ghosts" began!)
Ten Timid Ghosts on a Christmas Night
Written and illustrated by Jennifer O'Connell
2002 - Paperback - Scholastic/Cartwheel Books - 0-439-39553-4 $3.50
In Spanish: Diez fantasmitas tímidos la noche de Navidad - 0-439-21990-6
$3.50
One Christmas Eve day, the ten timid ghosts discover Christmas
decorations up in the attic. They find a tree, decorate it, and put up
lights outside. Will Christmas come? Join the ghosts as they hear,
see, smell and feel strange things in the air that night. Is someone
coming? Is that a sleigh in the sky? Count from one to ten with the
ghosts as they experience the magical spirit of Christmas!
Ten Timid Ghosts
Written and illustrated by Jennifer O'Connell
2000 - Paperback - Scholastic/Cartwheel Books - 0-439-15804-4 $3.25
In Spanish: Diez fantasmitas tímidos - 0-439-31741-x $3.25
New York Times Bestseller
It's Halloween, and ten timid ghosts in a haunted house have a problem: A mean witch has moved in and plots to scare them out, one by one! Young trick-or-treaters learn to count from ten to one as each ghost flies away from the witch's silly costumes and homemade props. When the homeless ghosts gather in the woods, their fear turns to determination and they plot their revenge. Will the ghosts frighten the witch away in time for Halloween night?
"For young kids who crave just a little scare, this book will be a good choice and great fun for Halloween."
~Marilyn Courtot, Children's Literature
A Garden of Whales 
Written by Maggie Davis
Illustrated by Jennifer Barrett O'Connell
1993 - Hardcover - Firefly Books - 0-944475-36-1 - $16.95
Paperback - Firefly Books - 0-944475-35-3 - $6.95
"The book gently delivers to children the important message that this magnificent and endangered species must be protected and preserved before its too late".
~Hugh Bowden, Ellsworth American
"O'Connell fully enters Davis's dream and strikingly echoes the fluent reverie. This is a bedtime read-aloud that will set heads nodding."
-Publishers Weekly
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