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February 11: Today in the History of Children’s Books

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🎂 Born February 11, 1968: Mo Willems

One of the most pop­u­lar con­tem­po­rary Amer­i­can pic­ture book authors and illus­tra­torsMo WillemsBorn. He was a writer for Sesame Street, whose works are humor­ous, high­ly inter­ac­tive, and demon­strate a deep under­stand­ing of child psy­chol­o­gy.

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
  • Three-time Calde­cott Hon­or­er
  • 2004: Don’t let pigeons dri­ve the bus!（Don’t Let the Pigeon Dri­ve the Bus!This tem­pera­men­tal and demand­ing pigeon breaks the “fourth wall,” direct­ly engag­ing with young read­ers and pio­neer­ing a new trend in inter­ac­tive pic­ture books.
  • 2005: The Gunash Bun­ny（Knuf­fle Bun­ny).
  • 2008: Here we go again, Gunash Bun­ny!（Knuf­fle Bun­ny Too).
  • Oth­er mas­ter­pieces: His “Ele­phant & Pig­gie” series is also a clas­sic bridge book that helps chil­dren read inde­pen­dent­ly.

| born | Mo Willems | Mo Willems (Wikipedia) |

🎂 Born February 11, 1939: Jane Yolen

Amer­i­can writer and poetJane YorlenBorn. She authored over 400 books and was hailed as “Amer­i­ca’s Hans Chris­t­ian Ander­sen” and “the con­tem­po­rary Aesop.”

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
  • Watch­ing Owls Under the Moon（Owl Moon(1987): This is a poet­ic sto­ry about a father and daugh­ter search­ing for owls in the for­est on a win­ter night. The writ­ing is beau­ti­ful and serene, and it won the Calde­cott Medal (illus­trat­ed by John Schorn­hurst).
  • The Princess’s Kite（The Emper­or and the KiteAdapt­ed from a Chi­nese folk­tale, it tells the sto­ry of a neglect­ed lit­tle princess who uses a kite to res­cue her impris­oned father. It won the Calde­cott Hon­or (illus­trat­ed by Yang Zhicheng).
  • Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works: 《Good­bye, Chang­ing Val­ley-Let­ting Swift Riv­er GoThe sto­ry tells of how the home­town was sub­merged in order to build a reser­voir, filled with a touch of sad­ness and warmth.

| born Jane Yolen | Jane Yolen (Wikipedia) |

🎂 February 11, 1874 – Birth: Elsa Beskow

Swedish nation­al trea­sure-lev­el pic­ture book author and illus­tra­torAisha BescotBorn (1874–1953). Her sta­tus in Swe­den is sim­i­lar to that of Beat­rix Pot­ter (The World of Peter Rab­bit) in Eng­land.

  • Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
  • Nat­ur­al Fairy Tales: Her works are filled with a love for nature, and her style is rich in Art Nou­veau influ­ences, char­ac­ter­ized by its del­i­ca­cy and beau­ty.
  • Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works:
  • Lit­tle Peter in the Blue­ber­ry Field（Puttes även­tyr i blåbärssko­gen(This is a sto­ry about a young boy named Peter who, at the invi­ta­tion of the Blue­ber­ry King, embarks on an adven­ture into the micro­scop­ic for­est world.)
  • The Lit­tle Baby in the For­est（Tomte­bo­bar­nen(Also trans­lat­ed as *The For­est Peo­ple*): This sto­ry depicts the life of a fam­i­ly of lit­tle elves wear­ing red hats in nature through­out the four sea­sons, and is includ­ed in *1001 Chil­dren’s Books*. born | Elsa Beskow | Elsa Beskow (Wikipedia) |

🎂 February 11, 1922 – Birth: Ela Peroci

Famous Sloven­ian chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture authorElla Per­ozziBorn (1922–2001).

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
  • Inter­na­tion­al recog­ni­tion: She 1970 getHans Chris­t­ian Ander­sen Award (HCAA) Writer AwardHigh­ly Com­mend­ed.
  • Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works:
  • Kit­ten Slip­pers（Muca Copatar­i­caThis is a clas­sic sto­ry known to every house­hold in Slove­nia, about a cat that picks up slip­pers that are left lying around, not only teach­ing chil­dren to devel­op tidy habits, but also mend­ing their slip­pers.
  • My Umbrel­la is a Bal­loon（Moj dežnik je lahko balon）。 | born Ela Per­o­ci | Ela Per­o­ci (Wikipedia) |

🎂 February 11, 1915 – Birth: Mabel Esther Allan

British writerMabel Esther AllenBorn (1915–1998).

  • Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
  • She is a pro­lif­ic author, hav­ing pub­lished near­ly 200 books cov­er­ing gen­res such as school sto­ries, fam­i­ly nov­els, and thrillers.
  • Bal­let Fam­i­ly（The Bal­let Fam­i­ly): This sto­ry tells the life tale of a bal­let fam­i­ly and is beloved by young read­ers who love dance.

| born | Mabel Esther Allan | Mabel Esther Allan (Wikipedia) |

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