October 21: This Day in Children’s Book History

🎂 October 21, 1929 — Born: Ursula K Le Guin

Amer­i­can sci­ence fic­tion and fan­ta­sy writerUrsu­la K Le GuinUrsu­la K. Le Guin is born. She is rec­og­nized as One of the most influ­en­tial writ­ers of the late 20th cen­tu­ryHer work has rede­fined the bound­aries of sci­ence fic­tion, fan­ta­sy, and young adult lit­er­a­ture.Pro­found philo­soph­i­cal spec­u­la­tion, soci­o­log­i­cal insights and Taoist thoughtis famous for its inte­gra­tion.

• Impor­tant works and achieve­ments: Le Guin’sTales from Earth­sea-Earth­sea) series is rec­og­nized as a clas­sic of fan­ta­sy lit­er­a­ture.
  • The sec­ond in the seriesEarth­sea Tomb-The Tombs of Atu­an, pub­lished in 1971) won 1972 New­bery Hon­or.
  • The third partBeyond the Earth and Sea-The Far­thest Shore) was award­ed in 1973Nation­al Book Award.
• con­tribute: Through the **Tales from Earth­sea** series, Le Guin pro­posed to young read­ers thePow­er, bal­ance, life and death, and self-aware­nessThese pro­found philo­soph­i­cal ques­tions have great­ly enhanced the artis­tic sta­tus of fan­ta­sy lit­er­a­ture.

| born Ursu­la K. Le Guin The Tombs of Atu­an (Wikipedia) |

---

⚰️ October 21, 2006 — Death: Paul Beagle

Dutch writerPaul Bea­glePaul Biegel (1925–2006) died in Laren. He was one of the most impor­tant chil­dren’s writ­ers in the Nether­lands and was known as “A sto­ry­teller with a heart of a ban­dit”.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions: Bea­gle has writ­ten near­ly 50 works of chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture. His works are not affect­ed by fash­ion and focus onEter­nal fairy tale world, which fea­tures dwarves, princess­es, witch­es, and talk­ing ani­mals.
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works and hon­ors: His worksKing of Cop­per Moun­tain-The King of the Cop­per Moun­tains)and“Small Cap­tain-De kleine kapiteinHe has won numer­ous acco­lades, includ­ing three times the high­est award for Dutch lit­er­a­ture:Gold­en Pen Award (Gouden Grif­fel), which had a huge impact on Dutch chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture.

| Death | Paul Biegel | Paul Biegel (Wikipedia) |

---

🎂 October 21, 1928 — Born: Eleanor Spence

Aus­tralian chil­dren’s librar­i­an and authorEleanor Spence(Eleanor Spence) was born in Syd­ney.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions: Spence main­ly writes aboutAus­tralian fam­i­ly lifenov­els, espe­cial­ly those focus­ing onMar­gin­al­iza­tion, alien­ation, grow­ing up, and cop­ing with social pres­sureHer works are often used in school edu­ca­tion and have high lit­er­ary val­ue and local char­ac­ter­is­tics.
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works and hon­ors: Two of her works have wonChil­dren’s Book of the Year Award:
  • 《Green Lau­rel-The Green Lau­rel, 1963)
  • 《Octo­ber Child-The Octo­ber Child, 1976) — This book is a famous Aus­tralian chil­dren’s lit­er­a­tureThe ear­li­est case involved chil­dren with autismOne of the nov­els on this theme.

| born Eleanor Spence Eleanor Spence (Wikipedia) |

---

🎂 October 21, 1846 — Born: Edmundo de Amicis

Ital­ian writer and jour­nal­istEdmun­do de Ami­cisEdmon­do De Ami­cis was born in Impe­ria.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions: De Ami­cis was one of the most impor­tant Ital­ian writ­ers of the 19th cen­tu­ry. His most famous work is the nov­elEdu­ca­tion of Love-Cuore, pub­lished in 1886).
• Influ­ence: The Edu­ca­tion of Love is writ­ten in the form of a diary, telling the sto­ry of Enrique, a third-grade stu­dent in Italy, who went to school for one year.Patri­o­tism, fil­ial piety, kind­ness, and integri­tyThe book con­tains sto­ries of virtues such as “The Leg­end of the Phoenix” and “The Leg­end of the Phoenix”, which are intend­ed to car­ry out moral edu­ca­tion and shape the nation­al spir­it. The book has been trans­lat­ed into many lan­guages and has had a huge and last­ing impact on chil­dren’s moral edu­ca­tion around the world, espe­cial­ly in Chi­na and East Asia.

| born Edmon­do De Ami­cis Edmon­do De Ami­cis (Wikipedia) |

---

⚰️ October 21, 1999 — Death: Lars Bo

Dan­ish illus­tra­tor and authorLars BoLars Bo (1924–1999) passed away. He was a renowned fig­ure in the inter­na­tion­al art world.Graph­ic Artists and Print­mak­ers.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions: Lars Bo is main­ly known forSur­re­al­ismStyleetch­ingsHis works are exhib­it­ed in muse­ums around the world.
• Con­nec­tion to chil­dren’s books: Although his main field is print­mak­ing, his artis­tic ideas and cre­ative prac­tice have influ­enced Dan­ish and Euro­pean illus­tra­tion art. He is known for Sne­dron­nin­gen (The Snow Queen) in In 1969, he was award­ed the BIB Plaque at the Bratisla­va Inter­na­tion­al Illus­tra­tion Bien­nale., rec­og­niz­ing his out­stand­ing achieve­ments in the art of chil­dren’s book illus­tra­tion.

| Death Lars Bo Lars Bo (Dan­ish Wikipedia) |