April 13: Today in the History of Children’s Books

🎂 Born April 13, 1962: Chris Riddell

British illus­tra­tor, author, and polit­i­cal car­toon­ist Chris Rid­dell Born. He served as the UK Chil­dren’s Author Lau­re­ate from 2015 to 2017.

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
    • Three-time Kate Green­away Medal (now CIL Illus­tra­tion Award) win­ner: With works such as *The Pirates’ Diaries* (2001), *Gul­liv­er’s Trav­els* (2004), and *The Pirates’ Diaries* (2005), and *Gul­liv­er’s Trav­els* (2004), and a col­lab­o­ra­tion with Neil Gaiman, he has achieved great suc­cess.Sleep­ing Beau­ty and the Spin­dle(2016) won the UK’s high­est hon­or for illus­tra­tion three times.
  • Artis­tic fea­tures: His lines are exquis­ite­ly del­i­cate, brim­ming with the grotesque aes­thet­ics and humor of the Vic­to­ri­an era. He not only authored best­sellers such as *Ada Goth*, but also, with his keen polit­i­cal acu­men and rich imag­i­na­tion, rein­ter­pret­ed clas­sic lit­er­ary works into strik­ing­ly mod­ern works of art.

| Birth | Chris Rid­dell | Chris Rid­dell (Wikipedia) |


⚰️ April 13, 2024 — Died: Faith Ringgold

One of the most famous con­tem­po­rary Amer­i­can artists and illus­tra­tion book authors Faith Ring­gold She died in 1930–2024. She was best known for her unique “Sto­ry Quilts” art form.

  • Mile­stone Achieve­ments:
    • Calde­cott Hon­or: With theTar Beach-Tar BeachAward­ed in 1991 Sil­ver Medal, 1992.
    • High­est Hon­or: In 2022, she received The Car­le Award for Artists in recog­ni­tion of her con­tri­bu­tions to the per­fect com­bi­na­tion of fine art and pic­ture book sto­ry­telling.
  • sta­tus: Her work is filled with cel­e­bra­tions of female pow­er and African Amer­i­can his­to­ry. “Asphalt Beach,” through the image of a girl soar­ing across a New York rooftop, express­es an endur­ing yearn­ing for free­dom and equal­i­ty.

| Passed away | Faith Ring­gold | Faith Ring­gold (Wikipedia) |


🎂 April 13, 1902 – Born: Marguerite Henry

Amer­i­can famous writer Mar­guerite Hen­ry Born in 1902–1997. She is the undis­put­ed queen of ani­mal lit­er­a­ture, espe­cial­ly nov­els about hors­es.

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
    • New­bery Medal: With theKing of the Wind-King of the WindAward­ed in 1948 Gold Medal 1949.
    • New­bery Sil­ver Medal: He once won the award for his role in “Misty”.Misty of Chin­coteagueHis works have won numer­ous awards.
  • fea­ture: She is known for her rig­or­ous his­tor­i­cal research and pre­cise depic­tions of ani­mal psy­chol­o­gy. In “The King of the Wind,” she por­trays the sto­ry of how the famous Ara­bi­an horse “Godolfin” endured hard­ships to become a leg­endary race­horse, influ­enc­ing count­less chil­dren who love ani­mals.

| Birth | Mar­guerite Hen­ry | Mar­guerite Hen­ry (Wikipedia) |


🎂 Born April 13, 1957: Rita Williams-Garcia

Famous Amer­i­can young adult lit­er­a­ture author Rita Williams-Gar­cia born.

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
    • New­bery Hon­or: With theA crazy sum­mer-One Crazy Sum­mer(2010) Award­ed Sil­ver Medal 2011.
  • Lit­er­ary sta­tus: She is a mul­ti­ple-time win­ner of the Col­leta Scott Medal. Her works often use the lives of African Amer­i­cans in the 1960s and 70s as a back­drop, deal­ing with com­plex themes of racial pol­i­tics, fam­i­ly con­flicts, and teenage girl­hood with humor and insight.

| Birth | Rita Williams-Gar­cia | Rita Williams-Gar­cia (Wikipedia) |


🗓️ Other Important Person Briefings

eventfig­ureDetails/AwardsWikipedia link
bornSea­mus Heaney (Sea­mus Heaney)Irish Nobel lau­re­ate in Lit­er­a­ture. He co-edit­ed the clas­sic poet­ry anthol­o­gy “Crunchy Book Bag,” which was includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books.”Sea­mus Heaney
bornGenevieve Fos­ter (Genevieve Fos­ter)An Amer­i­can non­fic­tion writer. She pio­neered the “hor­i­zon­tal his­to­ry” writ­ing style (such as *The World of George Wash­ing­ton*), and has won numer­ous awards.New­bery Medal.Genevieve Fos­ter
bornLee Ben­nett Hop­kinsA pro­lif­ic Amer­i­can anthol­o­gist and poet. He ded­i­cat­ed his life to bring­ing poet­ry into chil­dren’s lives and once held the world record for the most pub­lished poet­ry antholo­gies.LB Hop­kins
bornVeroni­ka Klí­mováSlo­va­kian illus­tra­tor. Known for *Deep Sea Fairy Tales* (…).Hlboko­morské rozprávkyAward­ed 2015 BIB Bratisla­va May­or’s Award.Veroni­ka Klí­mová
DeathPalmer Brown (Palmer Brown)Amer­i­can author and illus­tra­tor. Her works, such as “Hap­pi­ness,” pos­sess an extreme­ly ele­gant Vic­to­ri­an style, with fresh and time­less prose.Palmer Brown