Bridge of Ajia

December 17: Today in the History of Children’s Books

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🎂 Born: December 17, 1945 Jacqueline Wilson

British writerJacque­line Wil­sonJacque­line Wil­son was born. She was for­mer­ly the Chil­dren’s Lau­re­ate in the UK, known for her writ­ing…Real­ism, focus­ing on fam­i­ly and social issuesHe is famous for his chil­dren’s nov­els, which have sold over 100 mil­lion copies.

  • Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
    • Every­one has to grow up even­tu­al­ly.（The Sto­ry of Tra­cy Beaker(1991): This series tells the sto­ry of Tra­cy Bick, a girl liv­ing in an orphan­age (wel­fare home), and is her most famous series.
    • Extra­or­di­nary Moth­er（The Illus­trat­ed Mum(1999): This work explored the men­tal health issues of sin­gle moth­ers and won an award.The Guardian Chil­dren’s Nov­el AwardandWhit­braid Chil­dren’s Book Award.
    • Small Hotel, Big Star（The Bed and Break­fast Star(1994): A sto­ry about fam­i­ly finan­cial hard­ship and opti­mism.
  • sta­tus: Many of her works have been includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up,” and she is one of the most pop­u­lar chil­dren’s book authors in con­tem­po­rary Britain.

| born Jacque­line Wil­son | Jacque­line Wil­son (Wikipedia) |

🎂 December 17, 1884 – Birth: Allison Atley

British writerAlli­son AtleyAli­son Utt­ley (1884–1976) was born.

  • Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
    • The Lit­tle Gray Rab­bit series（The Squir­rel, the Hare and the Lit­tle Gray Rab­bitThis clas­sic series of ani­mal sto­ry­books, first pub­lished in 1929, is illus­trat­ed by Mar­garet Tem­pest and depicts the idyl­lic Eng­lish coun­try­side.
    • Time Trav­el­er（A Trav­eller in Time(1939): A clas­sicTime trav­el nov­elsThis book tells the sto­ry of a girl who trav­els back to the time of Eliz­a­bethan I and tries to save Mary, Queen of Scots. It was spe­cial­ly rec­om­mend­ed by “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| born Ali­son Utt­ley | Ali­son Utt­ley (Wikipedia) |

🎂 December 17, 1907 – Birth: Christina Brand

British writerChristi­na BrandChris­tian­na Brand (1907–1988) was born. She is best known for her detec­tive nov­els, but her chil­dren’s books are equal­ly clas­sic.

  • Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
    • She cre­at­ed **Nurse Matil­da**Nurse Matil­da)series.
  • Influ­ence: This sto­ry about an ugly but mag­i­cal nan­ny tam­ing unruly chil­dren was lat­er adapt­ed into the famous film series *Nan­ny McPhee*, star­ring Emma Thomp­son.Nan­ny McPheeThe orig­i­nal work was includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| born | Chris­tian­na Brand | Chris­tian­na Brand (Wikipedia) |

🎂 December 17, 1916 – Birth: Phoebe Westondorp

Dutch illus­tra­torPhoebe West­on­dorpFiep Wes­t­en­dorp (1916–2004) was born. She was one of the most famous illus­tra­tors in the Nether­lands, often col­lab­o­rat­ing with writ­ers.Anne MG Schmidt(Annie MG Schmidt) Col­lab­o­ra­tion.

  • Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
    • Her notable works include *Ip and Yan­nick*.（Jip and Jan­neke) series andThe Crane Boy in the Hat Apart­ment**Pluk van de Pet­te­flet).
  • style: Her char­ac­ters are usu­al­ly depict­ed in black and white sil­hou­ettes or vibrant col­ors, with a unique and child­like style that is a child­hood mem­o­ry for gen­er­a­tions of Dutch peo­ple and has been spe­cial­ly rec­om­mend­ed by “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| born | Fiep Wes­t­en­dorp | Fiep Wes­t­en­dorp (Wikipedia) |

🎂 Born: December 17, 1931 David Herdheim

Armen­ian-Amer­i­can writerDavid Herd­heimDavid Kher­dian (1931–2024) was born.

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
    • New­bery Hon­or: His bio­graph­i­cal nov­elThe Road Away from Home: The Sto­ry of an Armen­ian Girl-The Road from Home: The Sto­ry of an Armen­ian Girl(Pub­lished in 1979) won an award 1980 New­bery Sil­ver MedalHis wife, Noni HogrokinNon­ny Hogro­gianHe is the cre­ator of the Calde­cott Medal-win­ning work “One Fine Day”.
  • con­tent: Based on the author’s moth­er’s true sto­ry, the book tells her deeply mov­ing sto­ry of sur­viv­ing the Armen­ian geno­cide.

| born David Kher­dian David Kher­dian (Wikipedia) |

🎂 Born: December 17, 1945 Angela Lago

Brazil­ian writer and illus­tra­torAngela LagoAngela Lago (1945–2017) was born. She was an impor­tant fig­ure in Brazil­ian chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture.

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
    • She has won twicePlaque Award at the Bratisla­va Inter­na­tion­al Bien­ni­al of Illus­tra­tion (BIB):
      • 1995: With the work “Street view-Cena de RuaThis is a word­less book about street chil­dren.
      • 2007: With the work “Lucky João: The Busi­ness King-João Felizar­do: o rei dos negó­cios).

| born Angela Lago | Angela Lago (Official/Cultural Archives) |

🎂 December 17, 1927 – Birth: Mallenka Stupika

Sloven­ian (for­mer Yugosla­vian) illus­tra­torMal­len­ka Stupi­kaMar­len­ka Stupi­ca (1927–2022) was born. She was a lead­ing fig­ure in Sloven­ian illus­tra­tion (and the moth­er of illus­tra­tor Maria Lucia Stupi­ca).

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
    • she is Fre­quent recip­i­ent of BIB awardsThree timesPlaque Award at the Bratisla­va Inter­na­tion­al Bien­ni­al of Illus­tra­tion (BIB):
      • 1969: 《Pri­ma­ry school stu­dents-Šolar).
      • 1971: 《Her­acek the Tai­lor-Kro­jaček Hlaček).
      • 1977: 《Thum­be­li­na-Palči­ca).

| born | Mar­len­ka Stupi­ca | Mar­len­ka Stupi­ca (Slovene Wikipedia) |

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