December 25th: Today in the History of Children’s Books

⚰️ December 25, 2011 — Passed away Sims Tarbeck

Amer­i­can writer and illus­tra­torSims Tar­beckSimms Taback (1932–2011) has passed away. He was known for his high­ly indi­vid­u­al­is­tic style.Mixed media col­lage, humor, and die-cut (punched) designis famous.

• Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
• Calde­cott Medal: With theJoseph had an old coat-Joseph Had a Lit­tle Over­coat(1999) Award­ed 2000 Calde­cott MedalThis book clev­er­ly uses a hole-cut design to show­case the wis­dom of Jew­ish folk tales.
• Calde­cott Hon­or: With theAn old woman swal­lowed a fly.-There Was an Old Lady Who Swal­lowed a FlyAward­ed in 1997 1998 Calde­cott Hon­or.
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works: Also includes the pop­u­lar “It’s too noisy.-Too Much Noise).

| Death Simms Taback | Simms Taback (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 Born December 25, 1965: Anna Dudney

Amer­i­can writer and illus­tra­torAnna Dud­neyAnna Dewd­ney (1965–2016) was born.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• She cre­at­ed the famous **“Lamar the Alpaca”**Lla­ma Lla­ma(A series of pic­ture books)
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works: First workRama in red paja­mas-Lla­ma, Lla­ma, Red Paja­maWith its catchy rhyme and accu­rate depic­tion of sep­a­ra­tion anx­i­ety in young chil­dren, it became a house­hold name in the Unit­ed States as a bed­time sto­ry in 2005 and was includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| born | Anna Dewd­ney | Anna Dewd­ney (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 December 25, 1869 – Birth: Charles Finger

British Amer­i­can writerCharles Fin­gerCharles Fin­ger (1869–1941) was born. He was an explor­er who trav­eled exten­sive­ly through­out South Amer­i­ca.

• Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
• New­bery Medal: His worksThe Leg­end of the Sil­ver Land-Tales from Sil­ver Lands(Pub­lished in 1924) won awards New­bery Medal, 1925This is a col­lec­tion of sto­ries from South Amer­i­can Indi­an folk­lore, accom­pa­nied by famous wood­cut illus­tra­tions.

| born Charles Fin­ger | Charles Fin­ger (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 Born: December 25, 1935 Albin Brunovsky

Famous Slo­va­kian painter, print­mak­er, and illus­tra­torAlbin Brunovsky(Albín Brunovský, 1935–1997) was born. He was a pro­fes­sor at the Bratisla­va Acad­e­my of Fine Arts and a mas­ter of fan­ta­sy real­ism.

• Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
• He is one of the most award­ed artists in the his­to­ry of the Bratisla­va Inter­na­tion­al Bien­ni­al of Illus­tra­tions (BIB):
• 1967: With The Lit­tle Mer­maid (Malá morská pan­na) BIB Gold Badge Award.
• 1977: With “The Goat with Horns and the Hedge­hog“Koza rohatá a jež) BIB Gold­en Apple Award.
• 1981: With “The Pea­cock King“Páví kráľ(Again) BIB Gold­en Apple Award.

| born | Albín Brunovský | Albín Brunovský (Offi­cial Web­site) |

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🎂 Born: December 25, 1948 Gennady Spirin

Russ­ian-Amer­i­can illus­tra­torGen­nady Spirin(Gen­nadij Spirin) was born. He was born with…Clas­sic and exquis­ite water­col­or paint­ingsKnown for its style, it was deeply influ­enced by Renais­sance art.

• Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
• BIB Gold­en Apple Award: He 1983 With the work “About the Dwarf and the Orphan Maris­sa“O gno­mach i sirotke Maryse) wonGold­en Apple Award at the Bratisla­va Inter­na­tion­al Bien­ni­al of Illus­tra­tion (BIB).
• He has cre­at­ed illus­tra­tions for many clas­sic sto­ries (such as works by Tol­stoy and Chekhov), and his works have extreme­ly high artis­tic and col­lectible val­ue.

| born Gen­nadij Spirin | Gen­nady Spirin (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 Born: December 25, 1932 Stefan Chawul

Czech illus­tra­tor and writerSte­fan Chawul(Štěpán Zavřel, 1932–1999) was born. He lat­er set­tled in Italy and had a pro­found influ­ence on Euro­pean pic­ture book art.

• Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
• He found­ed the famousSalmad Inter­na­tion­al School of Illus­tra­tion(Inter­na­tion­al School of Illus­tra­tion in Sarmede).
• He 1973 With “The Lost Sun“Die ver­lorene Sonne)getHon­or­able Men­tion, Bratisla­va Inter­na­tion­al Illus­tra­tion Bien­nale (BIB)(Hon­orary Men­tion).

| born | Štěpán Zavřel | Štěpán Zavřel (Museo Štěpán Zavřel) |

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⚰️ December 25, 1979 – Died: Mary Hayes Wick

Amer­i­can writ­ersMary Hayes Wick(Mary Hays Weik, 1898–1979) died.

• Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
• New­bery Hon­or: Her rep­re­sen­ta­tive work isJazz Male-The Jazz Man(Pub­lished in 1966) won awards 1967 New­bery Sil­ver MedalThis nov­el focus­es on pover­ty in Harlem and the pow­er of music.

| Death | Mary Hays Weik | Mary Hays Weik (Wikipedia) |

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⚰️ December 25, 2009 — Passed away Susan Zieger

Illus­tra­tors work­ing in the UKSusan Zieger(Susan Einzig, 1922–2009) passed away.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• Her most famous work is forPhilip­pa PierceThe clas­sic mas­ter­pieceTom’s Mid­night Gar­den-Tom’s Mid­night Gar­denIllus­tra­tions were drawn in 1958.
• Influ­ence: Her black and white line draw­ings per­fect­ly cap­ture the mys­tery and tem­po­ral atmos­phere of the Vic­to­ri­an gar­den in the book, becom­ing an inte­gral part of the book.

| Death | Susan Einzig | Susan Einzig (Wikipedia) |

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⚰️ December 25, 1963 – Died: Oscar Alfaro

Boli­vian poet and writerOscar AlfaroÓscar Alfaro (1921–1963) died. He was hailed as Bolivi­a’s “chil­dren’s poet” (El poeta de los niños).

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• His sto­ries and poems often use this to reflect social real­i­ties and jus­tice.
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works: 《A toad who wants to be a star-El sapoque quería ser estrel­la(This is a col­lec­tion of short sto­ries full of mean­ing, includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”)

| Death | Óscar Alfaro | Óscar Alfaro (Wikipedia) |