December 24: Today in the History of Children’s Books

⚰️ December 24, 2020 — Passed away: Mitsumasa Anno

Japan­ese nation­al trea­sure-lev­el illus­tra­tor and writerMit­sumasa AnnoHe died (1926–2020).Full of math­e­mat­i­cal log­ic, opti­cal illu­sions and del­i­cate water­col­orsHis style is world-renowned, and he is known as the “Esch­er of the pic­ture book world”.

• High­est Hon­or:
• Hans Chris­t­ian Ander­sen Award (HCAA): At 1984 Award­ed the Illus­tra­tor Award.
• BIB Gold­en Apple Award: Two awards, respec­tive­ly 1977（《The AIUEO Book”)and 1979（《My Jour­ney II》）。
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works: 《Trav­el Pic­ture Book“series,“Step into the won­der­ful world of math­e­mat­icsHis works, such as those in [the jour­nals men­tioned above], tran­scend the bound­aries of sci­ence and art, stim­u­lat­ing the curios­i­ty of count­less read­ers.

| Death | Mit­sumasa Anno | Mit­sumasa Anno (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 Born: December 24, 1941 Ana Maria Machado

Brazil­ian writerAnna Maria Macha­doBorn. She is one of Brazil’s most famous chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture authors and served as the dean of the Brazil­ian Acad­e­my of Lit­er­a­ture.

• High­est Hon­or: At 2000 Award­edHans Chris­t­ian Ander­sen Award (HCAA) Writer AwardIn recog­ni­tion of his life­long achieve­ments.
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works:
• 《Grand­ma Bi and Grand­ma Bei-Bisa Bia, Bisa Bel): Explor­ing the con­nec­tions between gen­er­a­tions of women.
• 《Camilon, the Big Eater-Camilão, o Comilão)and“Raul the Blue Rust-Raul da Fer­rugem Azul).

| born | Ana Maria Macha­do | Ana Maria Macha­do (Wikipedia) |

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⚰️ December 24, 2016 — Passed away Richard Adams

British writerRichard AdamsHe died in 1920–2016.

• Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
• Carnegie Medal: His debut workRab­bit Repub­lic-Water­ship Down(Pub­lished in 1972) won an award 1972 Carnegie Medal.
• Influ­ence: This epic tale about a group of rab­bits search­ing for a new home con­structs a com­plete rab­bit lan­guage and mythol­o­gy sys­tem, and is wide­ly rec­og­nized as…A pin­na­cle of mod­ern ani­mal fan­ta­sy lit­er­a­ture.

| Death Richard Adams | Richard Adams (author) (Wikipedia) |

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⚰️ December 24, 1992 — Died: Peyo

Bel­gian car­toon­istBel­lo(Pierre Cul­li­ford, 1928–1992) died.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• He cre­at­ed the world-renowned “Smurfs” (The Smurfs / Les Schtroumpfs).
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works: 《The Smurfs: Dark Elves-Le Schtroumpfs Noirs“The Smurfs” (also known as “The Black Smurfs”) is the first stand­alone album in the series, and it orig­i­nal­ly appeared in the sto­ry of “Johan and Pee­wit.” The Smurfs have become an impor­tant sym­bol of glob­al pop­u­lar cul­ture.

| Death Peyo | Peyo (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 December 24, 1891 – Birth: Feodor Rojankovsky

Russ­ian-Amer­i­can illus­tra­torFyo­dor RojankovskyBorn (1891–1970).

• Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
• Calde­cott Medal: With theThe Frog’s Wed­ding-Frog Went A‑Courtin’(Pub­lished in 1955) won awards 1956 Calde­cott Medal.
• style: He excelled at depict­ing ani­mals and nature and was one of the ear­ly impor­tant illus­tra­tors of the famous “Lit­tle Gold­en Books” series.

| born Feodor Rojankovsky | Feodor Rojankovsky (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 Born December 24, 1973: Stephenie Meyer

Amer­i­can writ­ersStephanie Mey­erborn.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• She cre­at­ed **Twi­light** (Twi­light)series.
• Influ­ence: Despite mixed reviews from crit­ics, the series has gen­er­at­ed enor­mous buzz world­wide.Teen vam­pire romance nov­elsThe craze had a pro­found impact on the YA (Young Adult) pub­lish­ing mar­ket in the ear­ly 21st cen­tu­ry and was includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| born Stephe­nie Mey­er | Stephe­nie Mey­er (Wikipedia) |

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🗓️ Other important figures

event	fig­ure	Details/Awards	Main Ref­er­ence
born	Noel Streat­field (Noel Streat­feild)	1938 Carnegie Medalwin­ner (The Cir­cus Is Com­ingHis rep­re­sen­ta­tive work is “Bal­let Shoes”.	Link
born	John­ny Grow­er (John­ny Gru­elle)	The clas­sic doll char­ac­ter **Anne the Rag Doll**Raggedy Ann) cre­ator.	Link
born	Mar­ti­na Mat­lovi­co­va-Kralo­va	2009 BIB Gold­en Apple Awardwin­ner (Tra­cy­ho tiger).	N/A
Death	Vir­ginia Soren­son (Vir­ginia Sorensen)	New­bery Medal, 1957win­ner (Mir­a­cles on Maple Hill / “The Mir­a­cle of Maple Tree Moun­tain”).	Link
Death	William Make­beth Thack­er­ay	The great writer of the Vic­to­ri­an era in Eng­land cre­at­ed the clas­sic fairy tale **“The Rose and the Ring”**.	Link
Death	Alber­to de la Valle	A renowned Ital­ian illus­tra­tor who illus­trat­ed Sal­gar­i’s adven­ture nov­els (such as Cap­tain Storm).	Link