Portrait of Jon Klassen

Birthday profile

Jon Klassen

Jon Klassen, Canadian writer and illustrator

Born
November 29, 1981
Age in 2026
45
Zodiac sign
Sagittarius
Birth year
1981

About Jon Klassen

Jon Klassen (born November 29, 1981) is a Canadian writer and illustrator of children's books, and an animator. He is known for the 2012 picture book This Is Not My Hat, which won both the Caldecott Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal. This Is Not My Hat is a companion to Klassen's preceding picture book, I Want My Hat Back (2011), which was his first as both writer and illustrator. Both books were on the New York Times Best Seller list for more than 40 weeks; by April 2014 one or the other had been translated into 22 languages and they had jointly surpassed one million worldwide sales. Both books were recommended for children ages 5+ by the Greenaway judges. Klassen's Hat Trilogy was completed with the publication of We Found a Hat (2016). He received the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2026. He won both the American Caldecott Medal and the British Kate Greenaway Medal for children's book illustration, recognizing the 2012 picture book This Is Not My Hat, which he also wrote.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Jon Klassen timeline

  1. This Is Not My Hat is a companion to Klassen's preceding picture book, I Want My Hat Back (2011), which was his first as both writer and illustrator.
  2. He won both the American Caldecott Medal and the British Kate Greenaway Medal for children's book illustration, recognizing the 2012 picture book This Is Not My Hat, which he also wrote.

The world when Jon Klassen was born

Jon Klassen was born in 1981. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1981

  • #1 song"Bette Davis Eyes" – Kim Carnes
  • Top movieChariots of Fire
  • Top TV showDallas
  • Best-selling bookThe Hotel New Hampshire – John Irving

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentSugar Ray Leonard defeats Thomas Hearns
  • Top headlineMTV launches
  • Technology milestoneIBM launches the PC
  • Defining fadPac-Man fever
  • Notable inventionIBM PC (personal computer)
  • World population4.53 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderRonald Reagan
  • Sports championLos Angeles Dodgers (World Series)
  • Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
  • U.S. population229.5M

1981 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Jon Klassen's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19812026
Gas$1.31$3.45/gal
Average home$68,900$435,000
Average income$22,388$67,500
Minimum wage$3.35$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$2.78$11.95
Postage stamp$0.18$0.73
Population229.5M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.