November 15th: Today in the History of Children’s Books

⚰️ November 15, 1994 – Passed away: Elizabeth George Spear

Amer­i­can writ­ersEliz­a­beth George SpearEliz­a­beth George Speare (1908–1994) has passed away. She was a promi­nent fig­ure in Amer­i­can chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture.A rare “dou­ble cham­pi­on”“(Two-time New­bery Medal win­ner), withRig­or­ous his­tor­i­cal researchandAdo­les­cents’ iden­ti­ty, courage, and moral choic­esIt is known for its pro­found depic­tion.

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
    • Two New­bery Medals:
      • The Witch of the Black­bird Pond-The Witch of Black­bird Pond(1958): Award­ed New­bery Medal, 1959.
      • Bronze bow-The Bronze Bow(1961): Award­ed New­bery Medal, 1962.
    • Oth­er hon­ors: Her workBeaver’s Mark-The Sign of the BeaverAward­ed in 1983 New­bery Hon­or, 1984She her­self 1989 Award­edChil­dren’s Lit­er­a­ture Her­itage Award(Chil­dren’s Lit­er­a­ture Lega­cy Award, rec­og­niz­ing life­time con­tri­bu­tions).
  • con­tribute: Spiel’s works areHis­tor­i­cal nov­elsShe is a role mod­el who brings dis­tant his­tor­i­cal back­grounds into the view of con­tem­po­rary teenagers through her cap­ti­vat­ing sto­ries.

Death Eliz­a­beth George Speare | Eliz­a­beth George Speare (Wikipedia) |


⚰️ November 15, 2008 — Passed away Ivan Solhaus

Aus­tralian writerIvan Sol­haus(Ivan Southall, 1921–2008) died. He is wide­ly rec­og­nized as…Aus­trali­a’s great­est young adult nov­el­istOne of the works is itsIntense psy­cho­log­i­cal real­ism, a tense exis­ten­tial dilem­maIt is known for its depic­tions of the Aus­tralian bush.

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
    • His nov­elJosh-Josh(Pub­lished in 1971) tells the sto­ry of a city boy who goes on vaca­tion to vis­it his rel­a­tives in the coun­try­side and expe­ri­ences a series of psy­cho­log­i­cal dilem­mas and con­flicts caused by his incom­pat­i­bil­i­ty.
    • The book won The 1971 Carnegie Medal (CMW).
  • Influ­ence: Sol­haus’s work bold­ly exploresAnx­i­ety, lone­li­ness, and the strug­gles of teenagers under pres­sureIt pio­neered a new direc­tion for Aus­tralian young adult fic­tion.

Death | Ivan Southall | Ivan Southall (Wikipedia) |


🎂 November 15, 1890 – Birth: Richardman Compton

British writerRichard­man Comp­tonRich­mal Cromp­ton (1890–1969) was born. She was…British humor­ous chil­dren’s lit­er­a­tureHe is a rep­re­sen­ta­tive fig­ure, best known for cre­at­ing the clas­sic “Just William” series of nov­els.

  • Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
    • Naughty William-Just WilliamThe series (which began in 1922) shaped William Brown into the icon­ic fig­ure he is known for.Sub­ver­sive, imag­i­na­tive, and averse to clean­li­nessThe char­ac­ter is an 11-year-old boy. His adven­ture sto­ries are full of…Chaos and satire of the adult world.
  • Influ­ence: The Naughty William series has spanned decades and remained pop­u­lar for cen­turies.Britain’s most pop­u­lar clas­sic chil­dren’s humor nov­elOne of them is includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up”.

born Rich­mal Cromp­ton | Rich­mal Cromp­ton (Wikipedia) |


🎂 November 15, 1931 – Birth: Jan Terrau

Dutch writer and politi­cianJan Ter­rauJan Ter­louw was born. He is known for his works.Young adult nov­elsThese works are known for oftenA thrilling adven­ture sto­ry inter­twined with moral and social themes.Com­bined.

  • Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
    • His rep­re­sen­ta­tive work isWartime win­ter-Oor­logswin­ter(Pub­lished in 1972) is based on the authorPer­son­al expe­ri­enceA nov­el set against the back­drop of World War II. The sto­ry tells of a boy dur­ing a dif­fi­cult win­ter under Nazi occu­pa­tion.Moral­i­ty, courage, and sur­vivalA sto­ry of strug­gle between them.
  • Influ­ence: The book is con­sid­eredThe most impor­tant war chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture in the Nether­landsOne of them. As the infor­ma­tion states, Tel­rau hopes to tell a sto­ry.A true and metic­u­lous­ly craft­ed war sto­ryIt incor­po­rates ele­ments of humor to avoid being over­ly dark, thus pos­sess­ing endur­ing lit­er­ary val­ue and being includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up”.

born Jan Ter­louw | Jan Ter­louw (Wikipedia) |