December 19: Today in the History of Children’s Books

🎂 Born: December 19, 1928 Yves Bunting

Irish-Amer­i­can writerYves Bunting(Eve Bunting, 1928–2023) was born. She is wide­ly rec­og­nized as…The most social­ly con­scious of our timeOne of the lead­ing chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture authors, he cre­at­ed more than 250 books in his life­time, and dared to explore heavy and real­is­tic top­ics in pic­ture books.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• A Smoky Night（Smoky Night(1994): Set against the back­drop of the Los Ange­les riots, this book explores con­flict and racial rec­on­cil­i­a­tion. (Illus­tra­tions: David Diaz) won an award.Calde­cott Medal.
• A Train to a Dis­tance（Train to Some­where(This sen­tence is incom­plete and like­ly refers to a dif­fer­ent top­ic.) It tells the sto­ry of an orphan train, which is deeply mov­ing.
• Grand­pa’s Wall（The Wall): Focus­ing on the Viet­nam Vet­er­ans Memo­r­i­al Wall, this sec­tion explores war and loss.
• The Most Impor­tant Thing（A Day’s Work): This sto­ry tells of the hard­ships faced by immi­grant fam­i­lies and the val­ue of integri­ty.
• style: Her writ­ing is con­cise and pow­er­ful, always gen­tly touch­ing on social issues such as pover­ty, home­less­ness, and war from a child’s per­spec­tive.

| born | Eve Bunting | Eve Bunting (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 December 19, 1868 – Birth: Eleanor H. Porter

Amer­i­can writ­ersEleanor H. Porter(Eleanor H. Porter, 1868–1920) was born.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works: Her most famous work isPollyan­na-Pollyan­naPub­lished in 1913, also trans­lat­ed as “Dad­dy-Long-Legs,” a con­tem­po­rary opti­mistic clas­sic, “Lit­tle Girl.”
• Influ­ence: The book’s pro­tag­o­nist, Pollyan­na, engages in her “hap­py games.”“The phrase “Pollyan­na” (mean­ing “to find some­thing to be hap­py about in any sit­u­a­tion”) has swept the globe and pro­found­ly influ­enced pop­u­lar cul­ture; “Pollyan­na” has even become…A syn­onym for blind opti­mism. This book is includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up”.

| born | Eleanor H. Porter | Eleanor H. Porter (Wikipedia) |

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⚰️ December 19, 2023 — Passed away: KM Piton

British writerKM Piton(KM Pey­ton, 1929–2023) has passed away. She is best known for her works.Real­is­tic young adult nov­elsIt is par­tic­u­lar­ly known for the **Flam­bards** series.

• Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
• Carnegie Medal: Her “Fran­baz” series, Part 2The edge of the cloud-The Edge of the Cloud(Pub­lished in 1969) won awards 1969 Carnegie MedalThe series depicts growth and adven­tures (includ­ing ear­ly flight) amidst social change from the Edwar­dian era to World War I.

| Death | KM Pey­ton | KM Pey­ton (Wikipedia) |

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⚰️ December 19, 2022 — Passed away: Graeme Oakley

British writer and illus­tra­torGraeme Oak­ley(Gra­ham Oak­ley, 1929–2022) passed away.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• He is the famous cat and mouse fam­i­ly (from the TV series “Tom and Jer­ry”).The Church MouseHe is the cre­ator of the Church Mouse series.
• style: This series of sto­ries tells the incred­i­ble friend­ship between Arthur, a mouse liv­ing in a church, and Samp­son, a cat. Oak­ley’s illus­tra­tions…Extreme­ly rich detailsandBritish humorIt is renowned and has been spe­cial­ly rec­om­mend­ed by “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| Death Gra­ham Oak­ley | Gra­ham Oak­ley (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 December 19, 1924 – Birth: Michel Tournier

French writerMichel TournierMichel Tournier (1924–2016) was born. He was an impor­tant fig­ure in French lit­er­a­ture and also wrote for chil­dren.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• His worksFri­day or Prim­i­tive Life-Ven­dre­di ou la vie sauvage(Pub­lished in 1971) is a work based on Defoe’s *Robin­son Cru­soe*.Philo­soph­i­cal Restate­ment.
• fea­ture: This ver­sion was orig­i­nal­ly an adap­ta­tion of his adult nov­el *Fri­day*, but this chil­dren’s book ver­sion places even greater empha­sis on…Dia­logue between civ­i­liza­tion and natureIt became one of the best-sell­ing chil­dren’s books in France and was includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| born | Michel Tournier | Michel Tournier (Wikipedia) |

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⚰️ December 19, 1992 — Died: Eve Sutton

New Zealand writerEve Sut­tonEve Sut­ton (1906–1992) died.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• Her rep­re­sen­ta­tive work isMy cat likes to hide in box­es.-My Cat Likes to Hide in Box­es(Illus­trat­ed by Lyn­ley Dodd) is one of the most pop­u­lar pic­ture books in New Zealand.
• fea­ture: This book intro­duces cats from all over the world and their hob­bies in a catchy rhyme scheme, except that “My Cat” only likes box­es. It has been spe­cial­ly rec­om­mend­ed by “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| Death | Eve Sut­ton | Eve Sut­ton (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 December 19, 1925 – Birth: Pete Harris

Aus­tralian (also active in the UK) writerPete Har­risPeter Har­ris was born.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• His pic­ture book “Lit­tle Pirate at Night-The Night PiratesThis is an imag­i­na­tive adven­ture sto­ry about a lit­tle pirate girl who steals a store­front in town at night, encour­ag­ing girls’ adven­tur­ous spir­it. It is includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| born | Peter Har­ris | Peter Har­ris (author) (Wikipedia) |