Occupation Writer, illustrator Name Jan Pienkowski Education King\'s College, Cambridge | Nationality Polish, British Role Author Awards Kate Greenaway Medal | |
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Born Jan Michal Pienkowski8 August 1936Warsaw, Poland ( 1936-08-08 ) Genre Children\'s literature, picture books, movable books Notable works Meg and MogPop-up books Notable awards Kate Greenaway Medal1971, 1979 Spouse David Walser (2005–present) Books Haunted house, Botticelli\'s bed & breakfast, ABC dinosaurs, Meg Goes to Bed, Little Monsters Similar People Helen Nicoll, Joan Aiken, David Wood, Neil Griffiths, Angela Shelf Medearis | ||
Jan pienkowski s haunted house playthrough part 1
Jan Michał Pieńkowski (born 8 August 1936) is a Polish-British author of children's books—as illustrator, as writer, and as designer of movable books. He has also designed for the theatre. For his contribution as a children's illustrator he was UK nominee in 1982 and again in 2008 for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books.
Contents
- Jan pienkowski s haunted house playthrough part 1
- Stop motion pop up book haunted house by jan pienkowski
- Biography
- Private life
- References
WorldCat reports that Pieńkowski's work most widely held in participating libraries is Christmas, the King James Version (1984; US ISBN 0394869230), a 24-page picture book that "[u]ses the words of the Gospels of Luke and Matthew to present the story of the birth of Jesus."
Stop motion pop up book haunted house by jan pienkowski
Biography
Jan Pieńkowski was born in Warsaw, Poland. He was 3 when the September 1939 invasion of Poland opened World War II in Europe. During the war, the Pieńkowskis moved about the continent; they settled in Herefordshire, England, in 1946, where Pieńkowski attended Lucton School. Meanwhile, Jan had illustrated his first book at the age of eight, as a present for his father.
Pieńkowski attended the Cardinal Vaughan School in London and later read English and Classics at King's College, Cambridge.
After leaving university he founded the Gallery Five greeting cards company. He began illustrating children's books in spare time but soon found it taking all his time.
In 1968 Pieńkowski began working with children's author Joan Aiken. He won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal for their 1971 book, The Kingdom Under the Sea and other stories (Jonathan Cape), eleven "fairy tales from Eastern Europe and Russia" retold by Aiken. That award by the Library Association recognised the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject. In retrospect the librarians call it "brilliantly illustrated in a highly original and recognisable silhouette style". One year earlier he had been one of three Greenaway runners up for The Golden Bird (J. M. Dent, 1970), written by Edith Brill.
Pieńkowski is probably best known for illustrating the Meg and Mog books written by Helen Nicoll, and for his pop-up books including Haunted House, Robot, Dinner Time, Good Night and 17 others. Haunted House (Heinemann, 1979) earned his second Greenaway Medal (no one has won three). The librarians describe it as "the house of petrifying pop-ups".
Pieńkowski has had a lifelong interest in stage design. He was commissioned to provide designs for Theatre de Complicite, Beauty and the Beast for the Royal Ballet, and Sleeping Beauty at Disneyland Paris.
In December 2008 he was a guest on Private Passions, a biographic music discussion programme on BBC Radio 3. Published episode notes include the observation that "[h]is musical choices, which all have strong personal resonances, reflect his Polish background as well as his love of both Italy and England." Recordings of two Polish numbers led the program: "Infant holy, infant lowly", a traditional Christmas Carol (lyrics in English translation), and Chopin's so-called Military Polonaise.
Private life
In October 2009 he was a guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. During the programme Pieńkowski discussed his childhood spent roaming Europe, his dead infant sister, his bipolarity and his collection of discarded garments (which he wears himself or gives away to charity shops).
He also talked about his 40-year relationship with his collaborator and civil partner, David Walser, whom he met in a pub on the Kings Road in West London. They contracted their partnership in Richmond on the first day this was possible in 2005.
Pieńkowski lives and works in Barnes, London.