Ted Dewan

Ted Dewan (born 1961) is an American-born British writer and illustrator of children's books who resides in England. He is married to illustrator Helen Cooper with a daughter Pandora Dewan. He is the brother of musician and artist Brian Dewan.

Life

Dewan was born in Boston and raised in Lexington, Massachusetts, and had musical and artistic aspirations from a young age. He studied engineering and electronic music at Brown University, Rhode Island where he studied with his mentor, author/illustrator David Macaulay, before working for five years as a Physics teacher at Milton Academy. As well as his science-teaching duties at Milton Academy, Dewan directed various musical shows including a touring satirical student pop band that launched the musical career of jazz singer Titi Ngwenya.

In 1988, he relocated to London to continue a relationship with a Scottish girlfriend, where he began to make a living as a full-time illustrator and cartoonist, drawing for British newspapers including The Times (and Times Educational Supplement), The Guardian, The Independent and The Daily Telegraph. In his spare time, he performed a solo accordion act on London's comedy circuit, to mixed and "misunderstood" reviews at such ferocious venues as The Comedy Store and the Hackney Empire. Within a few years of moving to London, his relationship ended, whereupon he met Cooper, another children's illustrator and writer. They married in 1994.