This Day in Children’s Book History: September 18th

Selected historical events

• Sep­tem­ber 18, 1905 – DeathScot­tish writer George Mac­Don­ald has passed away. This pio­neer of 19th-cen­tu­ry chil­dren’s fan­ta­sy lit­er­a­ture cre­at­ed fairy tales such as “Behind the North Wind” and “The Princess and the Gob­lin”, which had a pro­found influ­ence on lat­er gen­er­a­tions.[1]Mac­Don­ald is known as the founder of mod­ern fan­ta­sy lit­er­a­ture.CS Lewis、J.R.R. TolkienFamous writ­ers such as[2]Many of Mac­Don­ald’s fairy tales are still loved by read­ers today, and he is an impor­tant mile­stone in the his­to­ry of chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture.
  
• Sep­tem­ber 18, 1945 – Born: Ghana­ian chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture writer Meshack Asare Born in 1985, he was award­ed for his book “The Cat Look­ing for a Friend” (1985) the BIB Plaque of the Bratisla­va Illus­tra­tion Bien­ni­al (BIB), and in 2015 wonNSK Neustadt Prize for Chil­dren’s Lit­er­a­ture, becom­ing the first African writer/illustrator to win the award.Wiki;BIBIANA data­base】.
  
• Sep­tem­ber 18, 2020 – Death: North­ern Irish children’s book author Sam McBrat­ney has died at the age of 77.[6] McBrat­ney is best known for his pic­ture book Guess How Much I Love You, which has sold over 50 mil­lion copies world­wide since its pub­li­ca­tion in 1994 and has been trans­lat­ed into 57 lan­guages, mak­ing it a con­tem­po­rary pic­ture book classic.[6] The famous line in the book, “I love you to the moon and back,” a love line between a father and his son, is a house­hold name and has become a clas­sic phrase in pop­u­lar culture.[7]
  
  
• 1978Year 918thday- born：Alain-Serge Dezo­tap, a chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture writer from Cameroon, AfricaAlain Serge Dzo­tap)born[3]Dezo­tap is a poet and chil­dren’s book writer. His pic­ture book “The Great Inven­tion of Njoya“Le Roi Njoya, un Genial Inven­teur) was select­ed for the “White Crow” list of the Munich Inter­na­tion­al Youth Library (a list of excel­lent chil­dren’s books world­wide)[4][5]Many of Zotap’s works have been trans­lat­ed into 11 lan­guages, includ­ing Chi­nese, mak­ing him a ris­ing star in the inter­na­tion­al chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture world.[5].
  
  

Alternative extended events

• 1824Year – Richard “Dick­ie” Doyle, a famous Vic­to­ri­an fairy tale illus­tra­tor, is born[8][9].
  
  
• 1907Year – Mar­got Austin, Amer­i­can children’s book illus­tra­tor known for her “Church Mouse” series of pic­ture books, was born[10].
  
  
• 1998Year – Francelia But­ler, a pio­neer in Amer­i­can children’s lit­er­a­ture who found­ed the pres­ti­gious aca­d­e­m­ic jour­nal Children’s Lit­er­a­ture and ded­i­cat­ed her career to pro­mot­ing the study of children’s lit­er­a­ture, has died.
  
  

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[1] [2] George Mac­Don­ald: Biog­ra­phy on Undis­cov­ered Scot­land

https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/mac/georgemacdonald.html

[3] [4] [5] Lit­téra­ture jeunesse : une lec­ture-dédi­cace avec l’au­teur Alain Serge Dzo­tap | cité inter­na­tionale de la langue française au château de Villers-Cot­terêts

https://www.cite-langue-francaise.fr/agenda/litterature-jeunesse-une-lecture-dedicace-avec-l-auteur-alain-serge-dzotap

[6] [7] Guess How Much I Love You author Sam McBrat­ney dies aged 77 | Pic­ture books | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/21/guess-how-much-i-love-you-author-sam-mcbratney-dies-aged-77

[8] [9] Richard Doyle (illus­tra­tor) – Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Doyle_(illustrator)

[10] Mar­got Austin – Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margot_Austin