April 25: Today in the History of Children’s Books

🎂 Born April 25, 1950: Monique Felix

Swiss illus­tra­tor and pic­ture book author Monique Felix Born. She is one of the most inge­nious artists in the field of silent books.

• Key Achieve­ments:
  • BIB Plaque: With theThe Lit­tle Mouse Word­less Book Series-His­toire d’une petite souris…) won 1981 BIB Gold Medal.
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works:
  • 《house》《col­or》《strong winds》《Any­way“wait.
• Artis­tic fea­tures: Her most famous cre­ation was hav­ing a lit­tle mouse “gnaw” a hole in the page, thus tak­ing the read­er into anoth­er space. She clev­er­ly used the phys­i­cal prop­er­ties of books to tell sto­ries, mak­ing the act of “turn­ing the page” itself part of the sto­ry, mak­ing her a pio­neer in inter­ac­tive pic­ture books.

| Birth | Monique Felix | Monique Felix (Ric­o­chet) |

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🎂 April 25, 1927 – Born: Albert Uderzo

The titan of French comics Albert Udzo Born (1927–2020).

• Impor­tant works and sta­tus:
  • ““Aster­ix the Gaul” (Astérix le gaulois): This series, which he co-cre­at­ed with René Goscin­ny, is one of the most suc­cess­ful comics in France and even the world, and is includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.
• con­tribute: With his dynam­ic, exag­ger­at­ed yet ele­gant style, Udzo cre­at­ed the immor­tal fig­ures of Aster­ix and Obir­ix. His works, full of his­tor­i­cal ref­er­ences and social satire, have achieved a read­ing appeal that tran­scends age groups.

| Birth | Albert Udzo | Albert Uder­zo (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 April 25, 1873 – Born: Walter de la Mare

British out­stand­ing poet and nov­el­ist Wal­ter de la Maire Born (1873–1956).

• High­est Hon­or:
  • Carnegie Medal (CMW): With theChil­dren’s Sto­ry Col­lec­tion-Col­lect­ed Sto­ries for Chil­dren) won 1947 Carnegie Medal.
• Artis­tic fea­tures: His poet­ry is known for its dream­like qual­i­ty, tinged with a touch of sad­ness and mys­tery.
• Con­tem­po­rary inter­pre­ta­tion: His clas­sic poems, such as “雪》(Snow)、《Spring nights are like sil­ver》(Sil­verIn recent years, it has been rein­ter­pret­ed into pic­ture books by illus­tra­tors such as Car­oli­na Rabei, show­cas­ing the endur­ing vital­i­ty of clas­si­cal poet­ry in a mod­ern visu­al con­text.

| Birth | Wal­ter de la Maire | Wal­ter de la Mare (Wikipedia) |

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⚰️ April 25, 2023 — Passed away: Hanna Johansen

famous Swiss writer Han­nah John­son He passed away in 1939–2023.

• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works:
  • 《Moles are nev­er afraid of lone­li­ness.》 (Ein Maulwurf Kommt Immer AlleinIt was includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.
  • 《Are you awake?》《I’m not just a kit­ten.》.
• style: She excels at observ­ing nature and dai­ly life from an extreme­ly del­i­cate and pre­cise child’s per­spec­tive. Her writ­ing is sim­ple yet pro­found, always cap­tur­ing moments that adults take for grant­ed but chil­dren cher­ish.

| Passed Away | Han­nah Johansen | Han­na Johansen (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 Born April 25, 1967: Régis Lejonc

French con­tem­po­rary illus­tra­tor and writer Reg­gie Le Junker born.

• Key Achieve­ments:
  • French Prix Sor­cières: Award­ed mul­ti­ple times, rep­re­sen­ta­tive work is “Inside and out­side the gar­den-Le Jardin du dedans dehors).
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works: 《Leg­endary City》 (Kod­h­ja)。
• sta­tus: Le Junker is a “chameleon” in the con­tem­po­rary French pic­ture book world. His style is ever-chang­ing, from retro poster style to del­i­cate real­ism. He can always adjust the visu­al lan­guage accord­ing to the core of the sto­ry, and his works are full of exper­i­men­ta­tion and artis­tic depth.

| Birth | Reg­gie Lejunck | Régis Lejonc (Wikipedia) |

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🗓️ Other Important Person Briefings

event	fig­ure	Details/Awards	Wikipedia link
Death	Anna Sewell (Anna Sewell)	A 19th-cen­tu­ry British writer. His rep­re­sen­ta­tive work is…Black Stal­lion》(Black Beau­tyIt is the first clas­sic work nar­rat­ed from the first-per­son per­spec­tive of an ani­mal, and has had a tremen­dous influ­ence on ani­mal wel­fare and lit­er­a­ture in lat­er gen­er­a­tions.	Anna Sewell
born	Melvin Burgess (Melvin Burgess)	British author of young adult lit­er­a­ture. Rep­re­sen­ta­tive work: [Title of work is miss­ing].Rub­bish-Junk) 1996 Carnegie MedalIt has been both con­tro­ver­sial and praised for its pro­found analy­sis of the prob­lem of addic­tion among teenagers.	Melvin Burgess
born	Mud­dhart Lovelace	Amer­i­can author. Rep­re­sen­ta­tive work: [Title of work not pro­vid­ed]Bet­sy-TasiThe series authen­ti­cal­ly doc­u­ments the growth of a girl in the Amer­i­can Mid­west and is includ­ed in “1001 Chil­dren’s Books”.	Maud Hart Lovelace
born	AT Son­ny Light­ner	Aus­tri­an edu­ca­tor. His rep­re­sen­ta­tive work is…Cave Child-Die Höh­lenkinder(This is a well-known sur­vival adven­ture book for teenagers.)	AT Sonnleit­ner
Death	Emilio Sagari (Emilio Sal­gari)	The father of Ital­ian adven­ture lit­er­a­ture. His rep­re­sen­ta­tive work is…Storm Cap­tainHis hero­ic fig­ures (such as San­dokan) have influ­enced the adven­ture dreams of gen­er­a­tions of read­ers.	Emilio Sal­gari