⚰️ 2025 — Passed away: Jutta Bauer
A renowned German children’s picture book author, illustrator, and cartoonist (1955–2025). She was a leading figure in contemporary German picture book writing, excelling in both language and illustration. She was known for her relaxed and light sketching lines and flat watercolor washes, and for her minimalist narratives that were rich in philosophical allegory and directly addressed children’s deep emotions and life experiences.
- World’s highest honors and representative works:
- At In 2010, he won the Hans Christian Andersen Award (HCAA) for Best Artist..
- The Loud-Voiced Mom (Schreimutter(2000) — Award 2001 German Youth Literature Prize (DJLP) Picture Book AwardThe little penguin recounts how one day his mother unleashed a furious tirade, roaring so loudly that his body parts were scattered in all directions—his head flew into space, his body into the sea, and his wings into the jungle. By evening, the exhausted penguin mother sailed a large boat, gathering the penguin’s fragments and meticulously mending them back together, whispering, “I’m sorry.” The book, through powerful visual metaphors, profoundly portrays the emotional trauma inflicted on a young child by a parent’s outburst and the tender reconciliation born of maternal love.
- Grandpa’s Angel (Opas Engel(2001) — This book tells the story of an elderly grandfather on his deathbed recounting his long life to his grandson, from climbing over rooftops as a child, to serving in the army and experiencing war, to facing an economic crisis. The grandfather believes he was just “lucky,” but an invisible angel is always present in the illustrations, protecting him from the shadows. The book uses lighthearted humor to portray the memories and blessings of life.
- The Magical Queen of Colors (Die Königin der Farben(1998) and “Happiness” (Selma— It showcases the metaphorical meaning of color and emotion, and the profound wisdom of pursuing a simple life.
| Passed Away | Jutta Bauer | Jutta Bauer (Wikipedia) / Douban People |
🎂 Born 1950: Babette Cole
A renowned British children’s picture book author and illustrator (1950–2017). She was a unique and rebellious queen of humor in the British picture book world in the second half of the 20th century, known for her unrestrained watercolor sketches, exaggerated and hilarious slapstick comedy, and a modern avant-garde perspective that completely subverted outdated didacticism, directly addressing sex education, physiological common sense, and independence.
- Representative works and content passed down through generations:
- The Mischievous Princess Who Never Marries (Princess Smartypants(1986) — Selected for “1001 Children’s Books,” a milestone in modern anti-fairytale feminist picture books. Princess Smatipans is beautiful and wealthy, loves her free life and her pet monster, and has no intention of getting married. Faced with a line of mediocre princes lining up to propose, she devises a series of absurd and impossible challenges. When the handsome and arrogant Prince Swasbackkl manages to pass the test and forcibly kisses the princess, he immediately transforms into an ugly toad and flees in panic. From then on, no prince dares to bother her, and the princess lives a happy and independent life.
- Mom laid an egg (Mummy Laid an Egg!(1993) — A globally bestselling humorous picture book for early childhood education. Faced with parents’ various absurd and outdated answers (“hatched from a dinosaur egg”, “baked from gingerbread dough”), children take the initiative and use their whimsical hand-drawn doodles to educate their shy parents about the true process of life’s birth.
- His representative works also include the children’s health and wellness classic “The Big Dog Doctor” (Dr. Dog), “Bad Habits!“Bad Habits!) and the carefree and humorous “Live a Wonderful Life” (Drop Dead).
| Birth | Babette Cole | Babette Cole (Wikipedia) / Douban People |
⚰️ 1989 – Died: Zbigniew Rychlicki
A renowned Polish picture book illustrator and graphic artist (1922–1989). He was one of the founding leaders of the Polish post-war illustration school and served for many years as the art director of the famous Polish children’s publishing house “Nasza Księgarnia”. His style is characterized by the integration of simple Polish folk textile patterns, paper-cutting, batik textures, and warm, modern three-dimensional forms.
- World’s highest honors and representative works:
- At In 1982, he won the Hans Christian Andersen Award (HCAA) for Best Artist.; once In 1973, he received the Plaque Award at the Bratislava International Biennial of Illustrations (BIB).(The artwork is from “The Wizard of Oz”)Czarnoksiężnik ze Szmaragdowego grodu illustration).
- ““droopy ears“Little Bear Misha”“series（Miś Uszatek (Series, by Czesław Janczarski, 1957) — A classic Polish children’s fairy tale character. This little teddy bear, Mischa, with his right ear drooping, explores nature and answers everyday questions in the pine forest every day with his dog, pig, and pig friends. The entire series has been translated into dozens of languages and adapted into stop-motion puppet shows, accompanying generations of children throughout Eastern Europe (in its early years, China imported several titles including “The Sun in the Sky Is Asleep,” “Mischa’s Adventure,” and “Mischa Is Back”).
| Passed Away | Zbigniew Rychlicki | Zbigniew Rychlicki (Wikipedia) / Douban People |
🎂 1922 – Born: Anne Holm (original name Else Anne Lise Jørgensen)
A renowned Danish author and journalist specializing in children’s and young adult literature (1922–1998). During World War II, she personally experienced the turmoil of the Nazi occupation, and her writing is filled with profound humanitarian reflections, solace for the psychological trauma of postwar Europe, and a sublime pursuit of human freedom.
- Representative works and content:
- I Am David (I Am David / Original Danish name David(1963) — Selected for “1001 Children’s Books” and winner of the Best Nordic Children’s Book Award. The story tells of David, a 12-year-old boy who grew up in an Eastern European internment camp. With the secret help of the camp guards, he escapes the barbed wire with a bar of soap, a knife, and a secret letter. Having never seen the real world, David travels through Greece, Italy, and Switzerland, relearning to smile, trust, and accept beauty with the kindness of strangers along the way. He eventually crosses the entire European continent to find his mother in Denmark. The novel uses a pure and austere style to depict the rebirth of a young boy’s soul under the light of freedom.
| Birth | Anne Holm | Anne Holm (Wikipedia) / Douban People |
⚰️ 1973 – Died: Cornelia Meigs
A renowned American children’s author, biographer, historian of children’s literature, and professor at Bryn Mawr College (1884–1973), she was one of the founders of 20th-century American children’s historical realism and biographical literature. She won the Newbery Medal four times and edited the landmark academic work, *A Critical History of Children’s Literature*.A Critical History of Children’s Literature).
- Four-time Newbery Medalist (one gold and three silver):
- Louisa the Invincible (Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women(1933) — Awarded The 1934 Newbery MedalThis is a timeless biography of Louisa May Alcott, author of “Little Women,” which vividly and realistically recreates Alcott’s extraordinary life of perseverance in the face of poverty and her ability to support her family through writing.
- Three-time Newbery Honor recipient: The pioneering and historically realistic masterpiece, “The Hill of Wind“The Windy Hill, 1921, the first Newbery Honor, nautical historical novel “The Weather Turns Clear” (Clearing Weather, 1928), Forestry historical novel “The Rushing River” (Swift Rivers(1932) won the silver medal three times.
| Deceased | Cornelia Meigs | Cornelia Meigs (Wikipedia) |
⚰️ 1948 – Died: Joan Garcia Junceda i Supervía (pen name Joan Junceda)
A renowned Catalan illustrator and master of humorous cartoons (1881–1948). He was a leading figure in Catalan picture books and newspaper satire during the first half of the 20th century, known for his delicate and vivid ink lines and his characters’ expressions full of folk humor.
- Representative works and content:
- Martha Glenn’s Extraordinary Adventures (Aventures extraordinaires in Massagran(Josep Maria Folch i Torres, 1910) — included in “1001 Children’s Books,” a seminal work of modern Catalan children’s literature. Jones created the iconic cartoon visual image of Martha Grant, an optimistic boy with a distinctive long chin who travels through Africa.
| Died | Joan Junceda | Joan Junceda (Wikipedia) |
🎂 1916 – Born: Robert M. McClung
He was a renowned American children’s science writer, naturalist, and former editor-in-chief of the Bronx Zoo Publishing (1916–2006). He was adept at combining rigorous animal ecological field observations with engaging biographies of animal life cycles.
- Representative works and content:
- Lost Wild America: The Story of Our Extinct and Endangered Wildlife (Lost Wild America: The Story of Our Extinct and Vanishing Wildlife(1969) — A far-reaching introductory book on ecological conservation for children, recording the changing fates of species such as the passenger pigeon, lemming, and bison under the encroachment of human civilization.
- His representative works also include the non-fiction novel *The True Adventures of Grizzly Adams*, which chronicles the life of a legendary 19th-century bear trainer.The True Adventures of Grizzly Adams).
| Birth | Robert M. McClung | Robert M. McClung (Wikidata) |