October 30: Today in the History of Children’s Books

⚰️ Octo­ber 30, 1922 – Died: Gal­toni Gaiza

Hun­gar­i­an writerGal­toni Gaiza(Géza Gár­donyi, 1863–1922) died. He is wide­ly rec­og­nized as… Rep­re­sen­ta­tive fig­ures of 20th-cen­tu­ry Hun­gar­i­an lit­er­a­tureone.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
  • His most famous his­tor­i­cal nov­elStar of Aegir-Egri csil­lagok(The first draft was com­plet­ed in 1899, and the book was pub­lished in 1901) is a work about the 16th-cen­tu­ry Turk­ish siege.AegalAn epic work based on true events at the cas­tle. The nov­el is full of…Courage, action, and adven­tureThe plot.
• Far-reach­ing impact: Despite its length, the nov­el is cap­ti­vat­ing andA eulo­gy to nation­al hero­ismThis allowed it to tran­scend the bound­aries of adult lit­er­a­ture and become Hun­gar­i­an lit­er­a­ture.One of the most pop­u­lar and influ­en­tial books for teenagersIt was even vot­ed one of the most pop­u­lar books in Hun­gary. It was spe­cial­ly rec­om­mend­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up”, with the edi­tor empha­siz­ing that “although ‘The Star of Ega’ is a nov­el of more than 500 pages, which may sound daunt­ing, even those with lit­tle knowl­edge of Hun­gar­i­an his­to­ry and cul­ture will be able to immerse them­selves in the action scenes and excit­ing descrip­tions.”“

| Death | Géza Gár­donyi | Géza Gár­donyi (Wikipedia) – Ref­er­ence work Egri csil­lagok |

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🎂 October 30, 1946 – Birth: Eric Kimmel

Amer­i­can writ­ersEric Kim­melEric A. Kim­mel was born in Brook­lyn, New York. He is a…Pro­lif­ic folk tale writerHe is par­tic­u­lar­ly good at adapt­ing and restat­ing.Jew­ish folk tales and folk leg­ends from around the world.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
  • His most famous work is the pic­ture book […].Her­schel and the Hanukkah Fairy-Her­shel and the Hanukkah Gob­linsPub­lished in 1989, illus­trat­ed by Tri­na Schart Hyman. The sto­ry tells of how Her­schel, a mis­chie­vous hero from Jew­ish folk­lore, uses his wit to defeat the gob­lin who has tak­en over the syn­a­gogue and is pre­vent­ing the vil­lagers from cel­e­brat­ing Hanukkah.
• Hon­ors and Influ­ence: The book won 1990 Calde­cott Hon­orEric Kim­mel’s works have brought rich­ness to chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture.Cul­tur­al diver­si­ty and humor­ous folk wis­domFive timesNation­al Jew­ish Book Award(Nation­al Jew­ish Book Awards)Catholic Library Asso­ci­a­tionAward­edRegi­na Medal 2024 lau­re­ate.

| born Eric A. Kim­mel https://www.encyclopedia.com/children/scholarly-magazines/kimmel-eric-1946 | Her­shel and the Hanukkah Gob­lins (Wikipedia) |