January 25: Today in the history of children’s books

⚰️ January 25, 2005 — Passed away Max Velthuijs

Dutch nation­al trea­sure illus­tra­tor and writerMax VelthuisHe passed away in 1923–2005. He was hailed as “the world’s great­est frog father”.

• High­est Hon­or:
• Hans Chris­t­ian Ander­sen Award (HCAA): At 2004 Award­edHans Chris­t­ian Ander­sen Award for Illus­tra­tionThe jury praised him for “prov­ing through sim­ple sto­ries that even the most com­plex emo­tions can be expressed with min­i­mal­ist illus­tra­tions and words.”
• BIB Award: As ear­ly as 1971He relied on “The child and the big fish-Der Junge und der Fisch) won the Badge Award at the Bratisla­va Inter­na­tion­al Bien­ni­al of Illus­tra­tions (BIB).
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works:
• Frog Frog series（Frog / KikkerThis frog, wear­ing red and white striped shorts, along with his friends—a duck, a pig, and a mouse—enacts sto­ries about pro­found themes such as love, fear, death, and prej­u­dice. The art­work is bright­ly col­ored, with sim­ple lines, and is full of philo­soph­i­cal insights and warmth.

| Death | Max Velthui­js | Max Velthui­js (Wikipedia) |

---

🎂 January 25, 1931 – Birth: Georges Chaulet

Famous French chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture writerGeorge ShoreBorn (1931–2012).

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• The Young Detec­tive Series（Fan­tômetteThis is in the his­to­ry of French chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture:The first female super­heroImage.
• sta­tus: The sto­ry fol­lows Françoise, an ordi­nary school­girl, who trans­forms into the masked “Fan­tômette” at night to fight crime and uphold jus­tice. Since its pub­li­ca­tion in 1961, the series has enjoyed endur­ing pop­u­lar­i­ty, sell­ing mil­lions of copies and being includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books.”

| born Georges Chaulet | Georges Chaulet (Wikipedia) |

---

🎂 January 25, 1900 – Birth: István Fekete

famous Hun­gar­i­an writerIstván FektBorn (1900–1970). He was Hun­gary’s most pop­u­lar ani­mal fic­tion writer.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• Lit­tle Fox Wu Ke（Vuk(1965): This nov­el tells the sto­ry of a lit­tle fox named Wuck who, after los­ing his fam­i­ly, is raised by an old fox and even­tu­al­ly defeats the hunter with his wis­dom.
• Influ­ence: The book was adapt­ed into a high­ly suc­cess­ful ani­mat­ed film and is a child­hood clas­sic for gen­er­a­tions of Hun­gar­i­ans. It is includ­ed in the book “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| born | István Fekete | István Fekete (Wikipedia) |

---

🎂 January 25, 1914 – Birth: James Flora

Amer­i­can renowned com­mer­cial artist and chil­dren’s book authorJames Flo­raBorn in 1914–1998. He start­ed his career design­ing jazz album cov­ers, with a whim­si­cal and ener­getic style.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• The Amaz­ing Fire­works Fam­i­ly（The Fab­u­lous Fire­work Fam­i­ly(1955): This is a bright­ly col­ored pic­ture book full of Mex­i­can flair, telling the sto­ry of a fam­i­ly build­ing a giant fire­works cas­tle.
• The Cow Sneezed（The Day the Cow Sneezed): This show­cas­es his sig­na­ture “crazy Cubism” style, full of absurd humor.

| born | James Flo­ra | Jim Flo­ra (Wikipedia) |