Jan Pieńkowski
| Jan Pieńkowski | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jan Michał Pieńkowski 8 August 1936 Warsaw, Poland |
| Occupation | Writer, illustrator |
| Nationality | Polish, British |
| Genre | Children's literature, picture books, movable books |
| Notable works | |
| Notable awards |
Kate Greenaway Medal 1971, 1979 |
| Spouse | David Walser (2005–present) |
| Website | |
| janpienkowski |
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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.
WorldCat reports that Pieńkowski's work most widely held in participating libraries is Christmas, the King James Version (1984; US ), 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."
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.
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