Jim Kay

Jim Kay (born 4 April 1974) is a British illustrator and printmaker from Northamptonshire, England, who won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2012 for his illustrations for the book A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. He was selected personally by J. K. Rowling to present colour illustrations of every title in the Harry Potter series.

Career Kay's first love was for art and for natural history, in particular for botany and entomology and its relationship with the environment. He attended the University of Westminster at the Harrow Campus, a vantage point for views of London in the smog which had been used by Victorian painters.

For two years, Kay worked at Tate Britain, in the Archives, working with the personal papers of artists such as Paul Nash and Stanley Spencer.

On 17 February 2022, Bloomsbury announced that the fifth book not only contained Jim Kay's artworks, but also featured illustrations from the award-winning illustrator Neil Packer.

On 7 October 2022, it was announced that Jim Kay will be stepping down from his role to focus on his mental health. Bloomsbury said they will continue to work with other artists to illustrate the remaining books. In March 2025, Bloomsbury announced Levi Pinfold as the illustrator for the final two books in the Harry Potter Illustrated Editions series.

Works A Monster Calls (Illustrated Edition, 2011) Bugs: A Pop-up Journey into the World of Insects, Spiders and Creepy-crawlies (Illustrated Edition, 2013) The Great War (Illustrated Edition, 2014) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Illustrated Edition, 2015) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Illustrated Edition, 2016) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Illustrated Edition, 2017) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Illustrated Edition, 2019) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Illustrated Edition, 2022)