March 3: Today in the History of Children’s Books

⚰️ March 3, 1983 – Died: Hergé

Famous Bel­gian car­toon­istGeorge Pros­per Lemie(Georges Pros­per Remi, pseu­do­nym)HergéHe died in 1907–1983. He was a lead­ing fig­ure in the Euro­pean com­ic strip world and pio­neered the “Ligne claire” draw­ing style.

  • Impor­tant works and influ­ence:
  • The Adven­tures of TintinLes Aven­tures de Tintin et MilouTintin, the young reporter with his sig­na­ture upturned hair, and his Snowy dog, accom­pa­nied the child­hoods of count­less read­ers around the world.
  • Chi­nese sen­ti­ment: This workVery pop­u­lar among Chi­nese read­ersHis sym­pa­thy and por­tray­al of Chi­na’s resis­tance against Japan, espe­cial­ly in *The Blue Lotus*, are deeply impres­sive. The author­i­ta­tive work on his cre­ative process, *The Eter­nal Tintin*, is a tes­ta­ment to this.Tintin: The Com­plete Com­pan­ionThis is also a must-have for many sea­soned Tintin fans. The series is includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

Death Hergé Hergé (Wikipedia) |


🎂 Born March 3, 1938: Patricia MacLachlan

Famous Amer­i­can chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture authorPatri­cia MacLach­lanBorn in 1938–2022. Her writ­ing is con­cise and poet­ic, and she excels at reveal­ing pro­found emo­tions in the mun­dane details of life.

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
  • New­bery Medal: With theUgly and tall Sarah-Sarah, Plain and Tall(Pub­lished in 1985) won awards 1986 New­bery Medal.
  • con­tent: This is a short, con­cise, yet deeply mov­ing nov­el. Set in the Amer­i­can Mid­west­ern prairie at the end of the 19th cen­tu­ry, it tells the sto­ry of Sarah, a Maine woman who responds to a mar­riage adver­tise­ment and comes to the prairie to become the step­moth­er of two chil­dren who have lost their moth­er. The nov­el del­i­cate­ly depicts the rebuild­ing of a fam­i­ly and the accep­tance of love.

born Patri­cia MacLach­lan | Patri­cia MacLach­lan (Wikipedia) |


🎂 Born March 3, 1928: Gudrun Pausewang

Famous Ger­man author of chil­dren’s lit­er­a­tureKing GudrunBorn in 1928–2020. Her works often car­ry a strong anti-war, envi­ron­men­tal, and cau­tion­ary tone.

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
  • Ger­man Youth Lit­er­a­ture Prize (DJLP): * 1988: With his rep­re­sen­ta­tive work “Girl Through the Clouds-Die WolkeThe nov­el, titled “The Clouds” (lit­er­al­ly trans­lat­ed as “The Clouds”), won the Youth Book Award. Set against the back­drop of the Cher­nobyl nuclear acci­dent, the nov­el fic­tion­al­izes the bru­tal expe­ri­ences of a 14-year-old girl flee­ing after a nuclear leak in Ger­many. It has shocked count­less read­ers and was includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.
  • 2017: DJLP Award Life­time Achieve­ment Spe­cial Award(Son­der­preis Gesamtwerk).

born | Gudrun Pause­wang | Gudrun Pause­wang (Wikipedia) |


🎂 Born March 3, 1920: Ronald Searle

British famous car­toon­ist and illus­tra­torRonald SellBorn in 1920–2011. He was known for his sharp satir­i­cal humor and high­ly expres­sive pen­man­ship.

  • Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
  • Cheers for Saint Trin­ianHur­rah for St. Trini­an’s, (1948): He cre­at­ed the fic­tion­al “Saint Trin­ian Girls” School” as a crazy school filled with naughty and destruc­tive girls.
  • Down with SkollDown with Skool!He illus­trat­ed this book by Geof­frey Willans, vivid­ly por­tray­ing Nigel Molesworth, a boy who does­n’t like going to school, and it was includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

born | Ronald Sear­le | Ronald Sear­le (Wikipedia) |


🗓️ Other Important Person Briefings

eventfig­ureDetails/AwardsMain Ref­er­ence
bornCar­olyn Snedek­er (Car­o­line Snedek­er)Amer­i­can writer.New­bery MedalThe win­ner, whose rep­re­sen­ta­tive work is “Hon­est Dan­cy” (Down­right DenceyIt tells the sto­ry of the friend­ship between a Quak­er girl and a home­less boy on Nan­tuck­et Island in the 19th cen­tu­ry.Link
bornEric Bry­ward (Erik Bleg­vad)A Dan­ish-Amer­i­can illus­tra­tor. Rep­re­sen­ta­tive work: *Miss­ing Bar­ney*The Tenth Good Thing About Bar­ney(Judith Viost) This is a clas­sic pic­ture book that explores the death of pets and the mean­ing of life through gen­tle pen and ink illus­tra­tions.Link
bornWilliam Kulek (William Kurelek)Cana­di­an artist and writer. His rep­re­sen­ta­tive work is *Win­ter of the Prairie Boys*.A Prairie Boy’s Win­ter(The paint­ing) depicts the ardu­ous yet joy­ful win­ter life on the Cana­di­an prairie in the 1930s with its nos­tal­gic oil paint­ings.Link
DeathA. Mait­land (Antony Mait­land)British illus­tra­tor.1962 Carnegie MedalThe win­ner. He is the author of Pene­lope Live­ly’s clas­sic chil­dren’s book, *The Ghost of Thomas Kemp*.The Ghost of Thomas Kempe(Illus­tra­tions were drawn.)Link
DeathJane Van Ruwen (Jean Van Leeuwen)Amer­i­can chil­dren’s book author. Rep­re­sen­ta­tive work: *The Sto­ry of Oliv­er Pig* (…)Tales of Oliv­er Pig(He/She) is skilled at cre­at­ing humor­ous and heart­warm­ing ear­ly child­hood read­ing books.Link