October 26: This Day in Children’s Book History

⚰️ October 26, 1890 — Death: Carlo Collodi

Ital­ian writer and jour­nal­istCar­lo Col­lo­diCar­lo Col­lo­di (orig­i­nal­ly Car­lo Loren­zi­ni, 1826–1890) died in Flo­rence. He is the author of **The Adven­tures of Pinoc­chio**The Adven­tures of Pinoc­chio) cre­ator.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
  • 《The Adven­tures of Pinoc­chio” was first pub­lished as a sin­gle vol­ume in 1883. It tells the fan­ta­sy adven­ture sto­ry of the pup­pet Pinoc­chio, from being naughty and self­ish to final­ly pass­ing the moral test and becom­ing a real boy.
• Far-reach­ing impact: This nov­el goes beyond tra­di­tion­al moral preach­ing byAbsurd imag­i­na­tion and rich folk sto­ry ele­mentsand pairChild­hood naughty natureIt has become one of the most famous, trans­lat­ed and adapt­ed works in the world of chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture.

| Death Car­lo Col­lo­di Car­lo Col­lo­di (EBSCO Research Starters) |

---

🎂 October 26, 1957 — Born: Eric Roman

Amer­i­can writer and illus­tra­torEric RomanEric Rohmann was born. He is known for hisPow­er­ful, tex­tured prints and paint­ingsHe is known for his illus­tra­tion style, espe­cial­ly his exper­tise in depict­ing ani­mals.

• Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
  • He wrote and drew his own pic­ture bookMy rab­bit friend-My Friend Rab­bit, pub­lished in 2002) was award­ed the 2003 Calde­cott Medal.
  • His word­less bookTrav­el­ing through the age of dinosaurs-Time Flies, pub­lished in 1994) depicts a fan­tas­ti­cal jour­ney of dinosaur bones com­ing back to life in a muse­um, and won the 1995 Calde­cott Hon­or.
• con­tribute: Roman’s works are known for theirHigh­ly artis­tic and humor­ous nar­ra­tive, becom­ing a mod­el of con­tem­po­rary Amer­i­can pic­ture books.

| born Eric Rohmann Eric Rohmann (Wikipedia) |

---

⚰️ October 26, 2006 — Death: Theodore Taylor

Amer­i­can writ­ersTheodore Tay­lorTheodore Tay­lor (1921–2006) died in Cal­i­for­nia. He was a pro­lif­ic writer of young adult fic­tion, focus­ing pri­mar­i­ly onWar, race, sur­vivaland oth­er top­ics.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
  • His rep­re­sen­ta­tive work isCoral Island-The Cay, pub­lished in 1969, tells the sto­ry of Phillip, a white boy who was blind­ed by a ship­wreck and har­bored racial prej­u­dice, and his sur­vival with Tim­o­thy, an old­er and wis­er black sailor, on a desert­ed island in the Caribbean dur­ing World War II.
• Influ­ence and Hon­ors: Coral IslandCrit­i­cism of racial prej­u­dice and the bril­liance of human natureThe book has become a clas­sic of Amer­i­can young adult lit­er­a­ture for its depic­tion of the real­i­ties of life and its tense sur­vival plot. It has won many hon­ors, includ­ing the Lewis Car­roll Shelf Award.

| Death Theodore Tay­lor Theodore Tay­lor (author) (Wikipedia) |

---

⚰️ October 26, 1988 — Death: Ruth Gervais

British illus­tra­torRuth Ger­vaisRuth Gervis (1894–1988) died in Oxford. She was a famous British chil­dren’s writerNoel Streat­field(Noel Streatfeild)‘s sis­ter.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions: Ger­vais is known pri­mar­i­ly for his famous nov­els about his sis­ter Streat­field.Smooth lines and a sense of the timesFamous for his pen­cil illus­tra­tions.
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works: She isbal­let shoes-Bal­let Shoes, pub­lished in 1936), per­fect­ly cap­tured the back­ground of Lon­don in the 1930s and the per­son­al­i­ties of the three pro­tag­o­nists, mak­ing the book the pio­neer­ing work of the British “shoe series”.“1001 Chil­dren’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up” , and Ger­vais’ illus­tra­tions are cru­cial to the book’s endur­ing appeal.

| Death Ruth Gervis Ruth Gervis (Wikipedia) |

---

🎂 October 26, 1942 — Born: Cecilia Torrede

Swedish illus­tra­tor and car­toon­istCecil­ia TorredeCecil­ia Torudd is born.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions: Torrede is known for his satir­i­cal car­toons,Mr. Enlong-Ensam­ma mam­man), and her chil­dren’s illus­tra­tions are alsoHumor and real­ismstyle.
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works: She Siv Wider­berg The pic­ture bookBig Sis­ter-Den sto­ra sys­tern, 1984). The book exploresSib­ling Rival­ry and Grow­ing Up with Dual Emo­tions, was spe­cial­ly rec­om­mend­ed by **1001 Chil­dren’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up** for its real­is­tic por­tray­al of com­plex emo­tions.

| born Cecil­ia Torudd The Big Sis­ter (Eng­lish and Swedish Edi­tion) (Goodreads) – See its list­ing on 1001 Books |