March 8th: Today in the history of children’s books

🎂 March 8, 1859 – Birth: Kenneth Grahame

British chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture giantKen­neth Gra­hamBorn in 1859–1932. He was once a sec­re­tary at the Bank of Eng­land, yet he used his pen to cre­ate the most peace­ful and poet­ic ani­mal world for chil­dren all over the world.

• Impor­tant works and influ­ence:
• The Wind in the Wil­lows（The Wind in the Wil­lows(1908): This work, which orig­i­nal­ly orig­i­nat­ed from bed­time sto­ries he told his son, became a pin­na­cle of British chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture.
• sta­tus: The sto­ry revolves around four anthro­po­mor­phic ani­mal friends—a gen­tle mole, a clever riv­er rat, a dig­ni­fied bad­ger, and a boast­ful and trou­ble­some toad. The book’s idyl­lic descrip­tions of the Thames River’s nat­ur­al scenery and its pro­found explo­ration of friend­ship, tol­er­ance, and home make it not only a bed­time sto­ry for chil­dren but also a sanc­tu­ary for count­less adults. It is includ­ed in *1001 Chil­dren’s Books*.

| Birth | Ken­neth Gra­hame | Ken­neth Gra­hame (Wikipedia) |

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⚰️ March 8, 2021 — Passed away: Norton Juster

Amer­i­can chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture author and archi­tectNor­ton JusterHe died in 1929–2021. His works are full of amaz­ing imag­i­na­tion, word­play and pro­found metaphors.

• Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
• The Amaz­ing Toll­booth（The Phan­tom Toll­booth(1961): This is a clas­sic fan­ta­sy nov­el hailed as a mod­ern ver­sion of Alice’s Adven­tures in Won­der­land, illus­trat­ed by his friend, the famous illus­tra­tor Jules Feif­fer.
• con­tent: This book tells the sto­ry of Milo, a boy who finds life utter­ly bor­ing. He dri­ves his toy car through a mag­i­cal toll­booth and enters a won­drous world com­prised of the “Land of Words” and the “Land of Num­bers.” It’s an adven­ture filled with puns, log­ic puz­zles, and philo­soph­i­cal reflec­tions, com­plete­ly over­turn­ing the mun­dane world of learn­ing and teach­ing chil­dren how to main­tain their curios­i­ty. The book is includ­ed in *1001 Chil­dren’s Books*.

| Passed Away | Nor­ton Juster | Nor­ton Juster (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 Born March 8, 1965: Robert Sabuda

A world-renowned Amer­i­can pop-up book mas­ter, paper artist, and chil­dren’s book cre­ator.Robert Sab­daborn.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• Alice’s Adven­tures in Won­der­land Pop-Up Book（Alice’s Adven­tures in Won­der­land Pop-upThis is one of his most amaz­ing mas­ter­pieces, which per­fect­ly com­bines clas­sic text with an extreme­ly com­plex and exquis­ite paper struc­ture. Turn­ing each page is like a visu­al mag­ic show.
• Influ­ence: He, along with Matthew Rein­hart and oth­ers, spear­head­ed the revival of the mod­ern pop-up book, push­ing this art form to unprece­dent­ed heights (such as pop-up ver­sions of The Wiz­ard of Oz and The Chron­i­cles of Nar­nia).

| Birth | Robert Sabu­da | Robert Sabu­da (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 March 8, 1899 – Birth: Eric Linklater

British writer and his­to­ri­anEric Lin­klaterBorn (1899–1974).

• Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
• Carnegie Medal: With theWind on the Moon-The Wind on the Moon(Pub­lished in 1944) won awards 1944 Carnegie Medal.
• con­tent: This is a sto­ry full of absur­di­ty and fan­ta­sy, about two lit­tle girls who are told that “if they do bad things when the wind blows on the moon, they will become bad chil­dren.” They are trans­formed into ani­mals such as kan­ga­roos, which leads to a series of adven­tures in an attempt to res­cue their impris­oned father.

| Birth | Eric Lin­klater | Eric Lin­klater (Wikipedia) |

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⚰️ March 8, 1991 — Died: John Bellairs

Amer­i­can writ­ersJohn BlairHe died in 1938–1991. He was known for his chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture with Goth­ic thriller and sus­pense ele­ments.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• The Tick-Tock House series（The House with a Clock in Its Walls(1973): This is his most famous work (with clas­sic illus­tra­tions by Edward Gory). It tells the sto­ry of orphan Lewis who moves in with his uncle, a wiz­ard, only to dis­cov­er that the house con­tains a dooms­day clock capa­ble of destroy­ing the world. The book has a strong Hal­loween atmos­phere and was lat­er adapt­ed into a film of the same name.

| John Bel­lairs passed away | John Bel­lairs (Wikipedia) |

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🗓️ Other Important Person Briefings

event	fig­ure	Details/Awards	Main Ref­er­ence
born	Jack­ie Frankie Khloé (Jack­ie French Koller)	Amer­i­can author. His rep­re­sen­ta­tive work is *Fear­less*.Noth­ing to Fear), a mov­ing nov­el set in the Great Depres­sion of the 1930s in the Unit­ed States, telling the sto­ry of the strug­gles and hard­ships of an Irish immi­grant fam­i­ly.	Jack­ie French Koller (Wikipedia)
Death	Steven Kroll (Steven Kroll)	Amer­i­can chil­dren’s pic­ture book author. Rep­re­sen­ta­tive work: *The Biggest Pump­kin*The Biggest Pump­kin EverThe sto­ry tells a heart­warm­ing tale of two mice (one dur­ing the day and one at night) who unknow­ing­ly grow a giant pump­kin togeth­er.	Steven Kroll (Wikipedia)