Kitty Crowther

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kitty Crowther (left) receives the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize from Silvia of Sweden

Kitty Crowther (born April 4, 1970 in Brussels ) is a Belgian author and illustrator of picture books . In 2010 she won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize, the most valuable award for children's and youth literature worldwide.

life and work

Kitty Crowther was born in Belgium to a British father and a Swedish mother and grew up in Brussels. Crowther studied graphics in Brussels. Since her debut as an author and illustrator in 1994, she has written and illustrated more than 30 picture books. She mostly writes her books in French, some also in Dutch. To date, her books have been translated into Danish, German, Greek, English, Italian, Korean, Moroccan-Arabic, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish, Spanish and Taiwanese. Seven books are currently available in German translation. She lives in Blanmont with her husband and two sons .

Works (selection)

Annie

Annie (2011) tells the story of young Annie who mourns her mother. To kill herself, she jumps into the water, but is rescued by three giants and accompanies the three companions on their journey to the sea. For Birgit Dankert in der Zeit , "Kitty Crowther, who is equally versed in text and illustration, combines the best of both genres. Text and image are cleverly interwoven." Dankert continues: "Kitty Crowther has been publishing picture books with his own and other people's texts since 1994. In the meantime, almost forty titles have been published in France. So Annie is anything but a debut; the Prix Baobab at the Children's Book Fair in Montreuil. A year later, Crowther received the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for her artistic oeuvre, seven of which have so far been published in Germany. With Annie, the author is about to become one of the to become really big in picture book heaven. " Jens Thiele is also impressed by the book in the Süddeutsche . For him Annie is "a fairy tale, told in a powerful, poetic language using strange, deliberately simple, awkward, powerful images".

The visit from little death

The visit from little death (2011) was received very favorably in the press. For the FAZ "Crowther's book, published in France and Belgium in 2004 (…), is a variation on one of her great themes, loneliness. Especially for the empathy with which she has repeatedly taken on people with difficulties in her stories , she was awarded the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize in 2010, the highest endowed prize for children's and young adult literature with more than half a million euros. In fact, it is almost unnecessary to point out that Her book does not only show some surprising perspectives for children. The same should also apply to adult readers. " For Maren Schürman in The West , the book "takes away the great horror of the inevitable without hiding the fear of it." For Katrin Hahnemann, Kitty Crowther understands like "her great colleague (...) Astrid Lindgren (...) it - despite all the brittleness - inimitable, to contrast difficult topics with ease and fine humor. After all, who has experienced death while doing handstands? How Lindgren meets she respects children with respect and takes them seriously by also exposing them to delicate topics. And like these she has a comforting happy ending in store for the readers. "

Reading tours in Germany

Kitty Crowther has been a guest in Germany several times for reading trips. In April 2008 and May 2010 Crowther visited the International Youth Library in Munich. In September 2011 she was a guest of the children's and youth program at the 11th international literature festival berlin.

Bibliography and Awards

  • 1998: You are my friend , text and illustration: Kitty Crowther, translation from French: Rolf Inhauser, original: Mon ami Jim (1996)
  • 1999: My Kingdom , text and illustration: Kitty Crowther, translation from French: Rolf Inhauser, original: Mon Royaume (1994)
  • 2005: Kritz Kratz - sleep, little frog , text and illustration: Kitty Crowther, translation from French: Tobias Scheffel, original Scritch scratch dip clapote! (2002)
    • 2003: Silver Brush
  • 2003: Eichhorn and ant celebrate their birthday , text: Toon Tellegen, illustration: Kitty Crowther, translation from Dutch: Mirjam Pressler, Original De verjaardag van de eekhoorn (1995) and Misschien wisten zij alles (1999)
  • 2011: Annie , text and illustration: Kitty Crowther, translation from French: Bernadette Ott, original: Annie du lac (2010)
    • 2009: Prix Baobab of the Monetreuil children's book fair
    • 2011: Lynx
  • 2011: The visit of little death , text and illustration: Kitty Crowther, translation from French: Maja von Vogel, original: La visite de petite mort (2004)
    • 2004: Silver Brush
    • 2011: The best seven in May
    • 2011: Owl of the month May
  • 2012: The Little Man and God , Text and Illustration: Kitty Crowther, Translation from French: Bernadette Ott, Original: Le petit homme et Dieu (2010)
  • 2011: Invitation to the children's and youth program at the 11th international literature festival berlin
  • 2012: Tomten är vaken . Text by Astrid Lindgren , illustration: Kitty Crowther, Rabén & Sjögren, Stockholm, ISBN 978-91-29-68093-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Birgit Dankert: The saving giant. In: time online . February 22, 2012, accessed April 10, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Kitty Crowther: Annie ( memento from July 20, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) in the SZ shop
  3. ↑ Lena Bopp: Kitty Crowthers picture book "The visit from little death". Looking for and finding good friends. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . September 15, 2011, accessed April 10, 2014 .
  4. ^ Maren Schürmann: Children's books about life after death. In: The West . November 28, 2011, accessed April 10, 2014 .
  5. ↑ Read across : The RBB book tip. The visit from the Little Death ( Memento from September 8, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  6. ^ The revision of the old gnome Tomte Tummetott in FAZ of December 24, 2014, page 14

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Crowther, Kitty
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian author and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH April 4th 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH Brussels