razen Kozjan was born in Karlovac, Croatia and grew up listening to folk tales and family stories told by his Mother and Grandmother.

When his family moved to Canada, Drazen fell further in love with storytelling in illustrated books, comic books, cartoons, and music. When not immersed in book illustrations by NC Wyeth, Harry Clarke, Dr. Seuss, or Jack Kirby, he was scratching away at his own drawings.

Drazen began his illustration career when his 7th grade teacher asked him to draw posters of the Norse legends Thor and Loki for his classroom. In exchange for his work, Drazen’s teacher awarded him two books: one about aliens, and one by Edgar Allan Poe. From there, he began to create posters and album covers for local bands, which led to additional illustration assignments for videos, magazines, and TV commercials. Drazen jumped from there into the world of television animation and has since helped to develop, design, and storyboard numerous successful cartoons including, "The Neverending Story," "Rupert the Bear," "Franklin the Turtle," and "George Shrinks," among many others.

Drazen realized a dream in 2005 when Diary of A Fairy Godmother by Esme Raji Codell—the first children’s book he ever illustrated—was published by Hyperion Books for Children. Afterwards Drazen went on to illustrate other children’s books such as The Biggest Girl In the World by Joanne Stanbridge (Reed Publishing) and How to Tame a Bully by Nancy Wilcox-Richards (Scholastic).

Drazen’s most recent children’s book work can be found in Julia Gillian (and the Art of Knowing), the first in a middle grade series by Alison McGhee (Scholastic, 2008), Julia GIlllian (and the Quest for Joy) in spring 2009, and Julia Gillian (and the Dream of the Dog) in spring 2010.

He’s also the illustrator for Janet Reed Ahearn’s Don't Call Me Pruneface!, (Hyperion, fall 2010), and Robert Kinerk’s Oh, How Sylvester Can Pester! (Simon & Schuster, 2011).

When not drawing, thinking of stories, looking at drawings, going to the movies, or riding his bike by the lake and being jumped on by neighborhood dogs, Drazen likes to exhibit his paintings in group shows. He also loves the sound of the ice cream truck outside his door.

Drazen Kozjan lives in Toronto, Ontario with his wife Alison, Igor the cat, and Monty the rabbit.