Axel Scheffler

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Axel Scheffler 2018 at the Frankfurt Book Fair
Axel Scheffler with Julia Donaldson (2011 in the children and youth program of the international literature festival berlin )

Axel Scheffler (born December 12, 1957 in Hamburg ) is an illustrator and author of picture books who lives in London. With his book The Gruffalo , he became one of the most successful picture book illustrators worldwide.

life and work

After studying art history in Hamburg, Axel Scheffler went to Corsham , England , in 1982 to study graphics at the Bath Academy of Art .

He works with the British author Julia Donaldson , with whom he wrote the children's book bestseller The Gruffalo , among other things . “The Gruffalo” has sold more than 10.5 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 40 languages.

But other books by the Donaldson-Scheffler duo are also very successful. For example, Für Hund und Katz ist also Platz (original title: Room on the Broom) has sold more than a million times worldwide. Scheffler first draws first sketches for the illustration of a book , then transfers them to watercolor paper . Then he primes them with watercolors , paints them over with colored pencils and then draws the contours with a black pen . Despite its established status, Scheffler occasionally had to bow to the demands of the children's book market. In A Squash and a Sqeeze, for example, he had to remove the udder of a sitting goat. Axel Scheffler's illustrative work is shown in many short documentaries, including in Axel Scheffler on “Pip and Posy” (2011) and The Gruffalo Draftsman Axel Scheffler (2012).

Scheffler has lived and worked in London since 1986 .

Press review

About the artistic style of Axel Scheffler

  • FAZ : “Scheffler usually paints in the format that the printed version will later have - and he loves vignettes . What then hangs in front of you in tiny tableaus about a picture book version of “Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes” that has not yet been published in German, reminds you of the images of illuminated manuscripts not only in format, but also in terms of color intensity and subtlety. The term also fits because Scheffler literally lets the drawings shine, its luminosity makes it so productive: The meticulously designed sunsets, starry nights in the desert or unpaved courtyard floors contain such a color spectrum that any printing process must be overwhelmed. How is one supposed to reproduce the pale yellow, dissolving scattered light of a lantern that Scheffler knows how to create like a pattern? Due to the cuteness of the figures and the superficially bright colors, which only turn out to be a masterful gradation of innumerable shades under the magnifying glass, all this looks more like naive painting. This is what makes Scheffler so popular with children. But he is a sneaky populist because he gives the innocent observer a creeping awareness of quality. Those who read these books learn to see. "
  • FAZ : “But text is only half the battle with a good picture book. Axel Scheffler's illustrations show what Julia Donaldson means, sometimes more. He creates a cosmos that inspires the imagination, because people, animals and mythical creatures live with one another as a matter of course. The latter, from the squirrel to the animated wooden stick, are not alien to any human emotion. Fright and joke, happiness and suffering, everything has its place - and in Scheffler's oversized colors, clearly contoured, always looks like an ideal world. The little ones like that, it also fascinates older children and is even fun for parents as endless repetition. "
  • FAZ : “Anyone who rushes to the glue Axel Scheffler's pictures sees only googly eyes and cuteness. Not that it doesn't exist there, not even that there is something to be said against it if it is executed with such skill and sophistication and if the clear contours of the central drawings are caressed by so many magical little details on the edge. They create chaos where unambiguity threatens, they lay new tracks and dodle the narrative with relish. And this sometimes in line with the text: “Benni Stern's favorite book”, for example, written by Julia Donaldson and drawn by Axel Scheffler, tells of a boy who is reading a pirate book. It says how a pirate captain finds a book in a treasure chest on an island, which in turn tells of three bears who prefer to read knight stories, and so it goes on and on. At the end of the day your head buzzes with so many nested books, and Scheffler's pictures whirl around cheerfully, pointing cunningly back and forth, thus turning the linear narrative into a tableau that is right back at Benni Stern on the last page. "

Bibliography (selection)

First edition title text Publisher (place) ISBN Translation first edition Translation title Translation publisher (place) Translation ISBN translator Remarks
1992 Daley B. Jon Blake Walker Books ( London ) ISBN 978-1-4063-3996-3 1992 Hey Duda Beltz & Gelberg ( Weinheim ) ISBN 978-3-407-79380-5 Salah Naoura 1994 New publication in English under the title You´re a Hero, Daley B.
1994 Sam, who was swallowed by a shark Phyllis Root Candlewick Press ( Cambridge ) ISBN 978-1-4063-4424-0 1994 Sam and the sea Beltz & Gelberg ( Weinheim ) ISBN 978-3-407-76035-7 Salah Naoura 2013 New release in English under the title Sam Who Went To Sea
  • Fierce world . 1992 (The Great Book 6)
  • Kate Petty : Ben and his butterfly garden. A folding picture book with real seeds . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 1999, ISBN 3-407-79229-8 .
  • Julia Donaldson: The fox is looking for his socks . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 2000, ISBN 3-407-79260-3 . (Original title: Fox's Socks )
  • Julia Donaldson: The bear is writing letters today . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 2000, ISBN 3-407-79261-1 . (Original title: Postman Bear )
  • Julia Donaldson: Rabbit is so tired . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 2000, ISBN 3-407-79262-X . (Original title: Rabbit's Nap )
  • Julia Donaldson: There is still space for cats and dogs . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 2001, ISBN 3-407-79282-4 . (Original title: Room on the Broom )
  • Julia Donaldson: Giant Rick is dressing up . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 2002, ISBN 3-407-79294-8 . (Original title: The Smartest Giant in Town )
  • Julia Donaldson: The Gruffalo . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 2002, ISBN 3-407-79291-3 . (Original title: The Gruffalo )
  • Axel Scheffler: The house book of fools and rascals . Gerstenberg, Hildesheim, 2006, ISBN 3-8067-5090-4 .
  • Axel Scheffler: Freddy the frog . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 2006, ISBN 3-407-79347-2 . (Original title: Freddy the Frog )
  • Julia Donaldson: The Gruffalo Child: Four-color cardboard picture book . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 2007, ISBN 978-3-407-79362-1 . (Original title: The Gruffalo's Child )
  • Julia Donaldson: The snail and the humpback whale . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 2007, ISBN 978-3-407-79357-7 . (Original title: The Snail and the Whale )
  • Martine Oborne : Fritz Piglet . Beltz Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-407-79368-3 . (Original title: Hamilton's Hat )
  • Axel Scheffler: About Holding Squirrels: A Guide . Jacoby & Stuart Publishing House, 2009, ISBN 978-3-941087-70-5 .
  • Ludwig Bechstein : The morose one . Jacoby & Stuart Publishing House, 2010, ISBN 978-3-941087-81-1 .
  • Julia Donaldson: My house is too cramped and too small . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 2010, ISBN 978-3-407-79302-7 . (Original title: A Squash and a Squeeze )
  • Ian Whybrow : When Little Bears Go To Sleep: Pop-up Picture Book . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 2010, ISBN 978-3-407-79181-8 .
  • Axel Scheffler: Dschingel Dschangel Dschungel: A counting and puzzle book . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 2010, ISBN 978-3-407-79319-5 . (Original title: Jingle, Jangle, Jungle )
  • Julia Donaldson: Zogg: four-color picture book . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 2010, ISBN 978-3-407-79422-2 .
  • Julia Donaldson: Robber Rat: Four-color picture book . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-407-79447-5 . (Original title: The Highway Rat )
  • Barbara Gelberg : Of dragons and mice: The most beautiful reading stories . Beltz Verlag, Weinheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-407-79937-1 .
  • 2012: Philip Ardagh (text), Axel Scheffler (illustration): The Grunts in Trouble , Publisher: Nosy Crow, ISBN 978-0-85763-069-8 (not yet published in German translation)
  • 2012: Julia Donaldson (text), Axel Scheffler (illustration): Superwurm , Beltz & Gelberg, Weinheim 2012 ISBN 978-3-407-79472-7 (original title: Superworm )
  • 2013: "Ms. Hoppe's first day of school", 2013
  • 2013: Axel Scheffler's Mix Max with funny rhymes , text and illustration: Axel Scheffler, Carlsen , Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-551-51794-4 .
  • 2013: Meine Grüffelo-Freunde , text: Julia Donaldson , illustration: Axel Scheffler, Beltz & Gelberg, Weinheim 2013, ISBN 978-3-407-79529-8 .
  • 2016: Went into the woods, caught a lion , text by Frantz Wittkamp , Beltz & Gelberg, Weinheim, ISBN 978-3-945709-24-5 .
  • 2018: Zippel, the real castle ghost . Text: Alex Rühle . Illustration: Axel Scheffler, dtv , Munich, ISBN 978-3-423-76234-2 .
  • 2019: Die Perlendiebin , text and illustration: Axel Scheffler, with pearl embroidery instructions by Rosa Scheffler Rowohlt Verlag , Hamburg 2019, ISBN 978-3-499-00130-7 .

Exhibitions

  • 2013: Grüffelo and Co - children's book illustrations by Axel Scheffler in the Wilhelm Busch Museum for Caricature and Drawing in Hanover

Festival participation

Awards

  • 2008: Book of the month of the Academy for Children's and Young People's Literature in September for Von Drachen und Mäusen (Jury statement: "This anthology with somewhat unusual, well-selected texts thrives on the original, colorful pictures of Axel Scheffler. A successful house book.")

Web links

Commons : Axel Scheffler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/books-life/7545438/The-20-greatest-childrens-books-ever.html
  2. ↑ http://sz-shop.sueddeutsche.de/mediathek/shop/Produktdetails/Buch+Room_on_the_Broom_Colouring_Book+Julia_Donaldson_und_Axel_Scheffler/5693870.do  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / sz-shop.sueddeutsche.de  
  3. ↑ Susanne Koppe: The Pilgrim Fathers snap . In: The time . No. 46/1992 ( online ).
  4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-b95wuM_QHs
  5. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dw.de
  6. ↑ http://m.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buecher/axel-scheffler-im-bilderbuchmuseum-der-hinterhaeltige-populist-11678217.html
  7. ↑ http://m.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/jung/axel-scheffler-der-unzufriedene-und-die-heile-welt-1596706.html
  8. ↑ Tilman Spreckelsen: The demon with the googly eyes. In: FAZ.net . August 10, 2008, accessed October 13, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Three books for children and young people received the title "Book of the Month"
personal data
SURNAME Scheffler, Axel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German children's book author
DATE OF BIRTH December 12, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg