December 23: Today in the History of Children’s Books

🎂 December 23, 1919 – Birth: Peggy Fortnam

British illus­tra­torPeg­gy Fort­namPeg­gy Fort­num (1919–2016) was born.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• She is Padding­ton Bear, the char­ac­ter cre­at­ed by Michael Bond.“（A Bear Called Padding­ton(First edi­tion, 1958)The first illus­tra­tor**.
• Influ­ence: Although Padding­ton Bear has been adapt­ed into many col­ored ver­sions since then, the orig­i­nal ones drawn by Fort­nam are still the most famous.Black and white pen line illus­tra­tionsThis estab­lished Padding­ton’s icon­ic image as a man in a duf­fle coat and an old hat. The series was includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| born Peg­gy Fort­num | Peg­gy Fort­num (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 December 23, 1880 – Birth: Juan Ramon Jiménez

Span­ish poet and writerJuan Ramon JiménezJuan Ramón Jiménez (1881–1958) was born. He was born in He was award­ed the Nobel Prize in Lit­er­a­ture in 1956..

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• His col­lec­tion of prose poems,The Song of the Lit­tle Don­key-Platero y yo(1914) is a gem of Span­ish lit­er­a­ture.
• con­tent: The book describes the poet­’s life with a sil­ver don­key named Platero in the Span­ish coun­try­side of Moguer. While not entire­ly writ­ten for chil­dren, it is known for its…Pure lan­guage and gen­tle depic­tions of nature and lifeIt has become a world-renowned clas­sic of chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture and has been includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| born | Juan Ramón Jiménez | Juan Ramón Jiménez (Wikipedia) |

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⚰️ December 23, 1961 – Died: Caroline Sherwin Bailey

Amer­i­can writ­ersCar­o­line Sher­win Bai­ley(Car­olyn Sher­win Bai­ley, 1875–1961) died.

• Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
• New­bery Medal: Her rep­re­sen­ta­tive work isMiss Wal­nut-Miss Hick­o­ry(Pub­lished in 1946) won awards New­bery Medal, 1947.
• con­tent: The sto­ry’s pro­tag­o­nist is a doll with the body of an apple tree branch and the head of a wal­nut nut. This fairy tale tells the sto­ry of her sur­viv­ing alone in the harsh win­ter, demon­strat­ing courage and indi­vid­u­al­i­ty.

| Death Car­olyn Sher­win Bai­ley Car­olyn Sher­win Bai­ley (Wikipedia) |

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⚰️ December 23, 1979 – Died: Dorothy Conhart

Amer­i­can writ­ersDorothy Con­hart(Dorothy Kun­hardt, 1901–1979) died.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• She cre­at­ed the famous “Pat the lit­tle rab­bit-Pat the Bun­ny(1940).
• sta­tus: This book isThe pio­neer of inter­ac­tive touch and feel booksOrig­i­nal­ly cre­at­ed for his daugh­ter, Con­hart’s book, which includ­ed real sand­pa­per (rep­re­sent­ing her father’s stub­ble), mir­rors, and soft fur, rev­o­lu­tion­ized the con­cept of chil­dren’s books and was includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| Death | Dorothy Kun­hardt | Dorothy Kun­hardt (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 Born: December 23, 1955 Carol Ann Duffy

British poet and play­wrightCar­ol Ann DuffyCar­ol Ann Duffy was born. She is the first per­son in British his­to­ry to hold this posi­tion.The first female poet lau­re­ate.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• She adapt­ed and cre­at­ed many works for chil­dren, includ­ing “…“Dwarfs and Oth­er Grim­m’s Fairy Tales-Rumpel­stilt­skin and Oth­er Grimm TalesShe was includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”. She rein­ter­pret­ed clas­sic fairy tales with mod­ern, poet­ic and dra­mat­ic lan­guage.

| born | Car­ol Ann Duffy | Car­ol Ann Duffy (Wikipedia) |

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⚰️ December 23, 1990 — Died: Pierre Gripparry

French writerPierre Grip­par­ry(Pierre Gri­pari, 1925–1990) died.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• His rep­re­sen­ta­tive work isBro­ca Street Fairy Tale Col­lec­tion-Con­tes de la rue Bro­ca(1967) is one of the cor­ner­stones of mod­ern French chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture.
• fea­ture: These sto­ries, set on Rue de Bro­ca in Paris, are full of mag­i­cal real­ism (such as the witch liv­ing next door and the talk­ing pota­to), humor­ous and absurd, and are loved by French chil­dren. They are includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| Death | Pierre Gri­pari | Pierre Gri­pari (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 December 23, 1900 – Birth: Otto Soglow

Amer­i­can car­toon­istOtto Soglow(Otto Soglow, 1900–1975) was born.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• His most famous work is **“The Lit­tle King”**.The Lit­tle KingThis tac­i­turn, diminu­tive king was first seri­al­ized in The New York­er mag­a­zine and lat­er became a clas­sic chil­dren’s book and car­toon char­ac­ter.

| born | Otto Soglow | Otto Soglow (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 Born December 23, 1950: Eric Ingram

Amer­i­can illus­tra­torEric Ingram(Erick Ingra­ham) was born.

• Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
• He relied on the pic­ture book “Por­cu­pine stew-Por­cu­pine Stew(Author: Bev­er­ly Major) won the award Plaque Award, 1983 Bratisla­va Inter­na­tion­al Bien­ni­al of Illus­tra­tions (BIB).

| born | Erick Ingra­ham | Erick Ingra­ham (ISFDB) |

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⚰️ December 23, 1984 – Died: Joan Lindsay

Aus­tralian writerJoan Lind­say(Joan Lind­say, 1896–1984) died.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• Her rep­re­sen­ta­tive work isPic­nic on the cliff-Pic­nic at Hang­ing Rock(1967) is a world-renowned filmMys­tery nov­elAlthough often cat­e­go­rized as adult lit­er­a­ture, it is fre­quent­ly rec­om­mend­ed as read­ing mate­r­i­al for teenagers due to its depic­tion of the psy­chol­o­gy of ado­les­cent girls and its mys­te­ri­ous atmos­phere, and is includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| Death | Joan Lind­say | Joan Lind­say (Wikipedia) |

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⚰️ December 23, 2017 — Passed away: Mae Mae Madonna

Aus­tralian writerMae Mae Madon­naMeme McDon­ald has passed away.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
• She often inter­acts with indige­nous writ­ersBoori Mon­ty Pry­orcoop­er­ate.
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive worksMy Kira­gan­ji-My Gir­ra­gund­jiIt tells the sto­ry of a boy and a green tree frog (Kira­gan­ji), explor­ing fear and growth, and is includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

| Death Meme McDon­ald | Meme McDon­ald (Wikipedia) |