December 28: Today in the History of Children’s Books

🎂 December 28, 1895 – Birth: Carol Riel Brink

Amer­i­can writ­ersCar­ol Riel Brink(Car­ol Ryrie Brink, 1895–1981) was born. She was known for her chil­dren’s nov­els set against the back­drop of Amer­i­can West­ern his­to­ry.

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
  • New­bery Medal: Her rep­re­sen­ta­tive work isWild Girl Katie-Cad­die Wood­lawn(Pub­lished in 1935) won awards New­bery Medal, 1936.
  • Con­tent and back­ground: Based on the author’s grand­moth­er’s true child­hood expe­ri­ences, this book tells the sto­ry of Katie, a red-haired girl from Wis­con­sin in the 1860s, who not only refused to become a tra­di­tion­al “lady” but also grew up adven­tur­ing on the fron­tier like a boy. It is a clas­sic work of Amer­i­can chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture depict­ing fron­tier life.

born | Car­ol Ryrie Brink | Car­ol Ryrie Brink (Wikipedia) |


🎂 December 28, 1919 – Birth: Emily Cheney Neville

Amer­i­can writ­ersEmi­ly Cheney Neville(Emi­ly Cheney Neville, 1919–1997) was born.

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
  • New­bery Medal: Her first nov­elYoung David and the Cat-It’s like this, Cat(Pub­lished in 1963) won awards 1964 New­bery Medal.
  • Inno­va­tion and Impact: As men­tioned in the brief­ing on Decem­ber 14th (the anniver­sary of his death), this work was ground­break­ing at the time. It broke with the tra­di­tion of chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture focus­ing pri­mar­i­ly on rur­al or his­tor­i­cal themes, instead focus­ing on…Mod­ern New York City LifeIt depicts the grow­ing pains of teenagers in the city and their par­ent-child rela­tion­ships with a sim­ple and humor­ous touch.

born | Emi­ly Cheney Neville | Emi­ly Cheney Neville (Wikipedia) |


🎂 December 28, 1865 – Birth: Felix Valodon

Swiss-French painter and print­mak­erFelix Val­odonFélix Val­lot­ton (1865–1925) was born. He was an impor­tant mem­ber of the “Les Nabis” (The Nabis), known for his dis­tinc­tive style.Black and white wood­cut printsFamous through­out the world.

  • Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
  • He wrote the chil­dren’s clas­sic nov­el by Jules Renard.Car­rot whiskers-Poil de CarotteHe cre­at­ed his famous illus­tra­tions in 1894.
  • Artis­tic val­ue: Val­lot­ton’s sim­ple, high-con­trast black-and-white prints per­fect­ly com­ple­ment the com­plex char­ac­ter of the red-haired boy in the book, who is unloved by his fam­i­ly. These illus­tra­tions are con­sid­ered mas­ter­pieces of lit­er­ary illus­tra­tion and are includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.

born Félix Val­lot­ton | Félix Val­lot­ton (Wikipedia) |


🎂 Born: December 28, 1956 Sylvia Shuyer

Argen­tine writerSylvia Shuy­erSil­via Schu­jer was born. She is an impor­tant voice in Latin Amer­i­can chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture.

  • Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
  • Her rep­re­sen­ta­tive work isVis­it-Las Vis­i­tas(Pub­lished in 1991) was includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.
  • con­tent: This is a heavy yet hope­ful young adult nov­el that tells the sto­ry of a boy who grad­u­al­ly dis­cov­ers that his father is not on a “busi­ness trip” but is impris­oned for polit­i­cal rea­sons. Through the thread of “vis­it­ing,” the sto­ry explores the social trau­ma and fam­i­ly bonds of Argenti­na’s mil­i­tary dic­ta­tor­ship from a child’s per­spec­tive.

born | Sil­via Schu­jer | Sil­via Schu­jer (Span­ish Wikipedia) |


⚰️ December 28, 1956 – Died: John Bennett

Amer­i­can writer and illus­tra­torJohn Ben­nettJohn Ben­nett (1865–1956) died.

  • Impor­tant works and achieve­ments:
  • New­bery Hon­or: His worksAli Ben­lu’s braids and 17 oth­er hilar­i­ous sto­ries and 200 com­i­cal sil­hou­ettes-The Pig­tail of Ah Lee Ben Loo…(Pub­lished in 1928) won awards New­bery Sil­ver Medal, 1929.
  • style: This book is known for its humor­ous sto­ries and exquis­ite writ­ing.Sil­hou­ette illus­tra­tionKnown for her work (Sil­hou­ettes), Ben­nett show­cased her unique tal­ent as an illus­tra­tor.

Death John Ben­nett | John Ben­nett (author) (Wikipedia) |

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