William Sherman Pène du Bois (May 9, 1916 – February 5, 1993) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

writer and illustrator of books for young readers. He is best known for ''

The Twenty-One Balloons ''The Twenty-One Balloons'' is a novel by William Pène du Bois, published in 1947 by the Viking Press and awarded the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1948. The story is about a retired schoolteacher whose ill-fa ...

'', published in April 1947 by

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquire ...

, for which he won the 1948

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

. He was twice a runner-up for the

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Servic ...

for illustrating books written by others, and the two Caldecott Honor picture books, which he also wrote. From 1953 to 1960, Pène du Bois was art editor of ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Philip ...

,'' working alongside founder and editor

George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found ''The Paris Review'', as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. He was also known for " ...

."Founding Editors"
The Paris Review (theparisreview.org). Retrieved 2017-08-27.

Early life

William Pène du Bois was born in Nutley, New Jersey in May 1916. His mother was Florence Sherman Pène du Bois who worked as a children's fashion designer until "Billy" was about seven years old. His father

Guy Pène du Bois Guy Pène du Bois (January 4, 1884 – July 18, 1958) was a 20th-century American painter, art critic, and educator. Born in the U.S. to a French family, his work depicted the culture and society around him: cafes, theatres, and in the twenties, f ...

was a noted art critic and a painter known for landscapes and portraits. His older sister Yvonne (born 1913, later Yvonne Pène du Bois McKenney) would become a painter and their cousin Raoul Pene Du Bois would become a noted costume and scenic designer. Their Du Bois ancestors had moved from France to New Orleans in 1738. When William was eight the family moved to France, where he was educated at the Lycée Hoche in Versailles and the Lycée de Nice in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

. They returned to Nutley when he was 14. After high school he was accepted by the Carnegie Technical School of Architecture, and offered a scholarship, but he sold a book that he had written and illustrated to pass the time during a vacation and pursued the creation of books rather than college. Thomas Nelson & Sons accepted ''Elisabeth, the Cow Ghost'' in 1935, when he was nineteen, and published it in 1936.

Writing career

By the time he entered the army in March 1941 at age 24, he had written and illustrated five more books. He spent his years in the army (1941–1945) with an

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

unit stationed in

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

. He worked as a correspondent for ''Yank'' magazine. He also edited the camp newspaper and illustrated strategic maps. In addition to writing and illustrating his own books, Pène du Bois illustrated books written by

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

Isaac Bashevis Singer Isaac Bashevis Singer ( yi, יצחק באַשעװיס זינגער; November 11, 1903 – July 24, 1991) was a Polish-born American Jewish writer who wrote and published first in Yiddish and later translated himself into English with the help ...

Rumer Godden Margaret Rumer Godden (10 December 1907 – 8 November 1998) was an English author of more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books. Nine of her works have been made into films, most notably ''Black Narcissus'' in 1947 and '' The River'' in ...

Claire Huchet Bishop Claire Huchet Bishop (30 December 1898 – 13 March 1993) was a Swiss children's writer and librarian. She wrote two Newbery Medal runners-up, ''Pancakes-Paris'' (1947) and ''All Alone (Claire Huchet Bishop novel), All Alone'' (1953), and she w ...

and

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...

, as well as magazine articles and advertisements. In 1960 he developed an interest in vintage cars, going to great pains and expense to refurbish a 1931 Brewster Croydon Coupe

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

P11. He was one of the founding editors of ''The Paris Review'' along with

Thomas Guinzburg Thomas Henry Guinzburg (March 30, 1926 – September 8, 2010) was an American editor and publisher who served as the first managing editor of ''The Paris Review'' following its inception in 1953 and later succeeded his father as president of ...

, Harold L. Humes,

Peter Matthiessen Peter Matthiessen (May 22, 1927 – April 5, 2014) was an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, zen teacher and CIA Operative. A co-founder of the literary magazine ''The Paris Review'', he was the only writer to have won the Nation ...

, and John P. C. Train, and designed the publication's logo. He illustrated ''The Rabbit's Umbrella'' by George Plimpton, published in 1955. The highlight of his career was winning the

in 1948 for ''

''. As an illustrator he was a runner-up for the companion

in 1952 for '' Bear Party'' and in 1957 for ''

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

''. He was the illustrator for

's ''Twenty and Ten'', which won the Child Study Association of America's Children's Book Award (now Josette Frank) in 1952. Some of his books including ''Bear Party'' and ''Lion'' are children's picture books with a minimum of text. ''The Twenty-One Balloons'', however – and others including ''The Three Policemen'', ''The Great Geppy'', ''Squirrel Hotel'', ''Peter Graves'' and ''The Giant'' – appeal to all ages. These books exhibit whimsical ingenuity in story and illustrations. Though not usually so classified, these books seem to qualify as

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

. Their interest lies more in their imaginative elaboration of ideas than in their characters. Some of his fictional ideas are fantastic but many are plausible, and some such as the Balloon Merry-Go-Round in ''The Twenty-one Balloons'' may be feasible. Many show the influence of

. Many of his papers are in the collection of the New York Public Library, Humanities and Social Sciences Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division.

Personal life

Pène du Bois married Jane Michele Bouche of Manhattan, daughter of artist

Louis Bouche Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

, in 1943. They later divorced and in 1955 he married theatrical costume designer

Willa Kim Wullah Mei Ok Kim (Korean:; Hanja:; June 30, 1917 – December 23, 2016), known as Willa Kim, was an American costume designer for stage, dance, and film. Life and career Kim was born near Santa Ana, California in 1917 and graduated Belmont Hig ...

. Children's book illustrator Margot Tomes was a cousin, as was theatrical costume and set designer Raoul Pene Du Bois. He died on February 5, 1993, in Nice, France, from a stroke.

Books

As writer

* ''Elisabeth, the Cow Ghost'' (Thomas Nelson, 1936) * ''Giant Otto & Otto at Sea'' (1936) – a giant dog named Otto (akin to

Clifford the Big Red Dog ''Clifford the Big Red Dog'' is an American children's book series about the adventures of a precocious girl named Emily Elizabeth and her titular pet: a giant, red-furred dog named Clifford. It was first published in 1963 and was written by No ...

) goes on a voyage * ''The 3 Policemen, or, Young Bottsford of Farbe Island'' (1938) – the ingenuity of ten-year-old Bottsford enables the three clownish policemen of an isolated idyllic isle to catch thieves who have been stealing the islanders' fish and fishing nets * ''The Great Geppy'' (1940) – his fifth book published, featured on one page of a ''Life'' magazine story about his family A striped horse (NOT a zebra) is hired to solve a robbery at a circus. To investigate the crime, Geppy poses as a variety of circus entertainers, including a freak, a tightrope walker, and a lion tamer. In the end he discovers that there has not been any theft; rather, the culprit has been breaking into the company safe to contribute money to the financially struggling circus. For his success, Geppy is honored as a hero and is even appointed the circus's newest star: he gives an extraordinary performance when shot from a cannon. *''The Flying Locomotive'' (1941) *''

'' (1947) A schoolteacher who decides to spend a year in a balloon but, because of an accident, crashes on

Krakatoa Krakatoa (), also transcribed (), is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. The caldera is part of a volcanic island group (Krakatoa archipelago) comprising four islands. Tw ...

. It turns out that the island is populated by twenty families who share the wealth of a secret diamond mine. They have used their wealth to build elaborate houses which also serve as restaurants. They have a calendar with a 20-day month. On A day, everyone eats in Mr. and Mrs. A's American restaurant; on B day, in Mrs. and Mrs. B's British chop house; on C day, in Mr. and Mrs. C's Chinese restaurant; on D day, in Mr. and Mrs. D's Dutch restaurant, and so forth. When Krakatoa explodes, the families and the protagonist escape on a flying platform lofted by twenty balloons. *'' Peter Graves: An Extraordinary Adventure'' (1950) A well-meaning but mischievous boy who encounters a gentlemanly and not-very-mad scientist named Houghton Furlong. Furlong is the inventor of an antigravity material named Furloy, and a Furloy-based invention called "the ball that bounces higher than the height from which you drop it." In an unfortunate accident with the latter invention, Peter destroys Houghton's house. Little of value is left in the wreckage except six balls of Furloy, each about the size of a golf ball, with an antigravity pull of 25

pounds-force The pound of force or pound-force (symbol: lbf, sometimes lbf,) is a unit of force used in some systems of measurement, including English Engineering units and the foot–pound–second system. Pound-force should not be confused with pound-ma ...

(110

newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

s) each. Peter commits himself to spending the summer with Houghton in an attempt to earn the $45,000 necessary to rebuild his house. The implied puzzle is: how can Peter and Houghton make use of the six Furloy balls to earn $45,000? *''Bear Party'' (1951) * ''Squirrel Hotel'' (1952) – a bittersweet story about a man who builds an elaborate hotel for squirrels With illustrations of the dollhouse-like structure full of squirrels sniffing, playing, sliding down spiral slides, and generating electricity for the lighting by running around a squirrel cage. The man disappears and the narrator tries to find him by tracing his purchases (48 miniature four-poster beds; 1 gross flashlight bulbs; 2 electric motors,

Meccano Meccano is a brand of scale model, model construction system created in 1898 by Frank Hornby in Liverpool, England. The system consists of reusable metal strips, plates, Structural steel#Common structural shapes, angle girders, wheels, axles and ...

; 6 American flags; etc.). *''The Giant'' (1954) An eight-year-old boy is seven stories tall because he has "a perfect digestive system": if the boy eats one pound of food, he gains one pound of body mass. Illustrations show the various arrangements made by family and friends to take care of him. He is sweet and well-mannered, but great effort is taken to conceal him because of the fear and hostility giants arouse. The narrator befriends him and comes up with a plan to introduce him to the public in such a way that they will accept him, so he will not need to spend his life in concealment. *''Lion'' (1956) An angel tries to design the animal known to us as a lion. This angel is new to the skill of designing animals, and his first few attempts are reviewed by his fellow artists as lacking for one reason or another. The angel perseveres and eventually Lion is perfected. It is a story about art, artists, creativity, and finding one's place in the world – for both the angel (amidst his fellow angels) and the lion. *''Castles and Dragons'' (1958) * ''Otto in Texas'' (1959) – Otto the giant dog visits Texas, where he discovers a dinosaur skeleton and a tunnel used by oil rustlers * ''Otto In Africa'' (1961) – further adventures of Otto the giant dog * ''The Three Little Pigs'' (1962) – the familiar story is told in verse *''The Alligator Case'' (1965) * ''Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead'' (1966) A boy lives in an electric house that automatically tips him out of bed into the bath, dresses him and feeds him breakfast every morning without requiring him to move a muscle. After each morning routine he yawningly climbs up a staircase that takes him until bedtime to reach the top of, at which point he tiredly goes to bed and sleeps until next morning's automatic wakeup. However, a power failure incapacitates the entire house and causes Tommy to sleep for seven days. When the power resumes, his bed tips him into seven-day-cold water. Shivering and struggling to get out of the tub, he lands upside-down in his clothes, is showered with a seven-day backup of breakfast food, and ends up sitting in a big mess on the floor. This serves as a moral to children not to be lazy, but to arise promptly every morning, take their own bath, and dress and feed themselves. * ''The Horse in the Camel Suit'' (1967) The town policeman, in a huff, locks up a show troupe and a young detective contrives to set them free without hurting the policeman's feelings. He discovers, however, that they actually are criminals, and he must get them behind bars again. * ''Pretty Pretty Peggy Moffitt'' (1968) – a vanity obsessed girl who loves looking at herself suffers many accidents * ''Porko von Popbutton'' (1969) – on

gluttony Gluttony ( la, gula, derived from the Latin ''gluttire'' meaning "to gulp down or swallow") means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, or wealth items, particularly as status symbols. In Christianity, it is considered a sin if ...

, in a series on the

seven deadly sins The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. Although they are not directly mentioned in the Bible, there are parallels with the seven things ...

A 274-pound thirteen-year-old boy whose sole passion is food is miserable when sent to boarding school until he accidentally gets on the hockey team. Also published under the title of "Beat the Queen" in ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' of December 23, 1968. * ''Otto And The Magic Potatoes'' (1970) – further adventures of Otto the giant dog *'' Call Me Bandicoot'' (1970) – a fast-talking young man entertains passengers on the

Staten Island Ferry The Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry route operated by the New York City Department of Transportation. The ferry's single route runs through New York Harbor between the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island, with ferry ...

in exchange for food and money; serialized in '' Children's Digest'' *''Bear Circus'' (1971) * ''Mother Goose for Christmas'' (Viking, 1973), picture book * ''The Forbidden Forest'' (1978) – Lady Adelaide, a boxing kangaroo, helps to defeat the German army, thus becoming a heroine of the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

* ''Gentleman Bear'' (1985) – a London gentleman and his inseparable companion of over seventy years, his teddy bear

As illustrator only

* ''The Mousewife'', written by

(

, 1951) * ''Twenty and Ten'', by

as told by Janet Joly (Viking, 1952), – also published by Scholastic as ''The Secret Cave'', *''The Great Dog Robbery,'' written by Dodie Smith, published serially in ''Woman's Day,'' June-September 1956. * ''Castles and Dragons: Read-to-yourself fairy tales for boys and girls'', compiled by the Child Study Association of America (

Thomas Y. Crowell Co. Thomas Y. Crowell Co. was a publishing company founded by Thomas Y. Crowell. The company began as a bookbindery founded by Benjamin Bradley in 1834. Crowell operated the business after Bradley's death in 1862 and eventually purchased the compan ...

, 1958), 292 pp., * ''A Certain Small Shepherd'',

Rebecca Caudill Rebecca Caudill Ayars (February 2, 1899 – October 2, 1985) was an American writer of children's literature. More than twenty of her books were published. '' Tree of Freedom'' (Viking, 1949) was a Newbery Honor Book in 1950. ''A Pocketful of ...

(

Holt, Rinehart and Winston Holt McDougal is an American publishing company, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, that specializes in textbooks for use in high schools. The Holt name is derived from that of U.S. publisher Henry Holt (1840–1926), co-founder of the e ...

, 1965) * '' The Magic Finger'',

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

(

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

;

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

, 1966) – later editions illustrated by Pat Mariott, Tony Ross, and Quentin Blake * ''William's Doll'',

Charlotte Zolotow Charlotte Zolotow (born Charlotte Gertrude Shapiro; June 26, 1915 – November 19, 2013) was an American writer, poet, editor, and publisher of many books for children. She wrote about 70 picture book texts. The writers she edited include Paul Fl ...

(Harper & Row, 1972) * ''My Grandson Lev'', Charlotte Zolotow (Harper & Row, 1974) * ''Bear in Mind: A book of bear poems'', selected by Bobbye S. Goldstein (Viking Kestrel, 1989), picture book, *''Harriet'', by Charles McKinley, Jr. (Viking Press, 1946)

Notes

References

External links

*
William Pène du Bois papers, 1940s-1970s
held by the Manuscripts and Archives Division,

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pene Du Bois, William 1916 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American novelists American children's writers American male novelists American science fiction writers Newbery Medal winners Novelists from New Jersey People from Nutley, New Jersey American expatriates in France American children's book illustrators The Paris Review American male short story writers Artists from New Jersey 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers