Bagram Ibatoulline

About Bagram Ibatoulline

Bagram Ibatoulline is a Russian-born illustrator, born in Omsk and based in the United States since 1991, best known for his paintings for Kate DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (2006).

He studied at the Kazan Art School, served in the army and then trained in Moscow; sources name his college there as the Surikov Art Institute or the State Academic Institute of Arts.

His first picture book was Philip Booth's Crossing (Candlewick, 2001), which Publishers Weekly named a best book of that year. He went on to illustrate The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (2006), which won the 2006 Boston Globe and Horn Book Award, and DiCamillo's Christmas picture book Great Joy (2007). He is noted for changing his manner to suit each text: his pictures for Deborah Noyes's Hana in the Time of the Tulips were praised by School Library Journal as a homage to Rembrandt, while his edition of Hans Christian Andersen's The Nightingale uses Chinese settings. He has also worked with Linda Sue Park, Lois Lowry, Stephen Mitchell and Michelle Houts. His University of Queensland Press profile places his home in Chichester, New York.

For collectors

The first edition of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (2006) carries his colour plates and sepia drawings and is his award book. Crossing (Candlewick, 2001), his first illustrated book, and Great Joy (2007), DiCamillo's first picture book, are his other key firsts.