Ingri d'Aulaire (December 27, 1904 – October 24, 1980) and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire (September 30, 1898 – May 1, 1986) were American writers and illustrators of

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

who worked primarily as a team, completing almost all of their well-known works together. The couple immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

from Europe and worked on books that focused on history such as ''Abraham Lincoln'', which won the 1940

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 ...

. They were part of the group of immigrant artists composed of

Feodor Rojankovsky Feodor Stepanovich "Rojan" Rojankovsky (russian: Фёдор Степанович Рожанковский) (December 24, 1891 – October 12, 1970), also known as Rojan, was a Russian émigré illustrator. He is well known both for children's boo ...

, Roger Duvoisin,

Ludwig Bemelmans Ludwig Bemelmans (April 27, 1898 – October 1, 1962) was an Austrian-American writer and illustrator of children's books and adult novels. He is known best for the ''Madeline'' picture books. Six were published, the first in 1939. Early life ...

, Miska Petersham and

Tibor Gergely Tibor Gergely ( August 3, 1900 – January 13, 1978) was a Hungarian-American artist best known for his illustration of popular children's picture books. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics ...

, who helped shape the Golden Age of picture books in mid-twentieth-century America.

Background

Edgar Parin, originally of Swiss citizenship, was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, Germany to an Italian portrait painter Gino Parin and Ella Auler, a talented artist and musician who had moved from St. Louis to Paris. His parents separated when Parin was six years old and he grew up spending time with each, travelling around Europe with his father. Edgar Parin took his mother's maiden name when she changed it from ''Auler'' to ''d'Aulaire''. After studying architecture for a year in Munich, he began art studies at its School of Arts and Crafts (German:

Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for thes ...

). Edgar, a pupil of Hans Hofmann and

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

,"D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls"
(2006 edition). Random House Canada. studied fresco in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, painted murals in France and Norway, and exhibited in Paris, Berlin and Oslo. He illustrated many books in Germany from 1922 to 1926 and painted frescoes in Norway from 1926 to 1927. Ingri Mortenson was born in

Kongsberg Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud, Viken county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms production ...

, Norway into an artistic family. Her uncle, for instance, was a clergyman and poet who translated the Icelandic ''

Edda "Edda" (; Old Norse ''Edda'', plural ''Eddur'') is an Old Norse term that has been attributed by modern scholars to the collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: what is now known as the ''Prose Edda'' and an older collection of poems ...

s'' into Norwegian and set his own poetry to music by

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

. When she was 15, the Norwegian painter

Harriet Backer Harriet Backer (21 January 1845 – 25 March 1932) was a Norwegian painter who achieved recognition in her own time and was a pioneer among female artists both in the Nordic countries and in Europe generally. She is best known for her detailed ...

encouraged her to pursue art as a career, and Ingri later studied at art schools in Norway, Germany and France. Ingri and Edgar met in Munich when Ingri was an art student."Contributor biographical information for ''The two cars''"
New York Review Books. 2007. Hosted by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

(LC) Online Catalog. They were married in 1925. A modest insurance settlement following a near-fatal bus–trolley collision in Paris provided the seed money for Edgar's steerage-class voyage to the U.S. to scout for opportunities. He garnered enough commissions illustrating books to send for Ingri and they moved into a cold-water walk-up flat in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in 1929. At first they pursued separate careers. Edgar concentrated on illustrating books using wood block engravings and stone

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

; Ingri garnered commissions to paint portraits of prominent businessmen. Their work caught the eye of the director of the New York Public Library. Acting on her suggestion, the d'Aulaires decided to turn their talents to children's books and collaborated to create ''The Magic Rug'' in 1931. Shortly thereafter they became U.S. citizens. They lived and worked in

Wilton, Connecticut Wilton is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 18,503. In 2017, it was the sixth-wealthiest town per capita in Connecticut, the wealthiest U.S. state per capita. Officially reco ...

, from 1941 until their deaths in the 1980s. They also had a farm in

Royalton, Vermont Royalton is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,750 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Royalton, South Royalton, and North Royalton. Vermont Law School, the state's only accredited law school, ...

Literary works

Many of the d'Aulaires' early books depict the scenery and folktales of Norway: ''Ola'', ''Children of the Northlights'', ''East of the Sun and West of the Moon''. Later their attention shifted to their adopted country and they produced books about American heroes such as

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

, and Buffalo Bill. Using their research and travel experiences as inspiration, the husband-and-wife team produced 27 illustrated books for children including many

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

. Edgar illustrated '' Children of the Soil: A Story of Scandinavia'' by Nora Burglon, who was a 1932

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 cont ...

runner-up for that work. The d'Aulaires won the third annual Caldecott Medal in 1940 for ''

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

'', a picture-book life of the 16th U.S. President. They won the 1953 Boy's Club award for their version of '' Buffalo Bill'' (1952). ''Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths'', published by Doubleday in 1962, was an elaborately illustrated compendium of

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

, 192 pages in 46 chapters. In 1967 they published '' Norse Gods and Giants'', based on the ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been t ...

'' and ''

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...

''."''D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths'', by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire"
James Hynes. ''The New York Times''. December 18, 2005. The 154-page book presents 30 Norse myths and includes most of the basic stories of the

Norse pantheon In Germanic paganism, the indigenous religion of the ancient Germanic peoples who inhabited Germanic Europe, there were a number of different gods and goddesses. Germanic deities are attested from numerous sources, including works of literature ...

. ''D'Aulaires' Trolls'' was one of ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' outstanding books of 1972. It was also a

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

finalist. They completed a sequel in 1976, ''The Terrible Troll Bird'', an adaptation of one of their earlier works, ''Ola and Blakken''.

Reprints

In 2005,

New York Review Books New York Review Books (NYRB) is the publishing division of ''The New York Review of Books''. Its imprints are New York Review Books Classics, New York Review Books Collections, The New York Review Children's Collection, New York Review Comics, Ne ...

reissued ''Norse Gods and Giants'' under the name ''d'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths''. This volume was carefully printed to reproduce the vibrant color and texture of the original lithographs, and includes a glowing foreword by

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, DC, he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, gr ...

."D'Aulaires' book of Norse myths"
(2005 edition). LC catalog record. With links to information from the publisher. Its immediate popularity prompted NYRB to reissue ''d'Aulaire's Trolls'' in 2006, which likewise was a meticulous reprint of the 1972 original pressing. That was followed by a reprint of ''The Terrible Troll Bird''. ''Animals Everywhere'' was reprinted and retitled ''d'Aulaires' Book of Animals'' in late April 2007, followed by a new edition of ''The Two Cars'', then by ''Too Big'' and ''Foxie'', a retelling of Anton Chekhov's short story "Kashtanka".

Translations

In 2007 and 2008 respectively, the Italian publisher, Donzelli Editori reissued smaller-format Italian language editions of Norse Myths retitled as ''Miti Del Nord'' and ''

Trolls A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

'' appearing as ''Il Libro Dei Troll''. Several of their books are also available in Korean and Japanese language editions.

Awards

The d'Aulaires received the Catholic Library Association

Regina Medal The Regina Medal is a literary award conferred annually by the U.S.-based Catholic Library Association. It recognizes one living person for "continued, distinguished contribution to children's literature without regard to the nature of the contri ...

for "continued distinguished contribution to children's literature" in 1970. They were the 1974 U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award for children's illustrators. The d'Aulaires and ''Abraham Lincoln'' won the

from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

in 1940, recognizing the previous year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". ''Buffalo Bill'' (1952) won the 1953 Boy's Club award. ''d'Aulaires' Trolls'' (1972) was a finalist for the annual National Book Award, Children's Literature and a '' New York Times Book Review'' "outstanding book" for 1972.

Works

* ''The Magic Rug'', Doubleday, 1931 * ''Ola, Doubleday'', 1932 * %% * ''Ola and Blakken'', Doubleday, 1933 * ''The Conquest of the Atlantic'', Viking Press, 1933 * ''The Lord's Prayer'', Doubleday, 1934 * ''Children of the Northlights'', Viking Press, 1935 * % * ''George Washington'', Beautiful Feet Books, 1996 * ∗ * ''East of the Sun and West of the Moon'' Viking Press, 1938 * %%% * ''

'', Doubleday, Doran, 1939 * ∗ * ''Animals Everywhere'', Doubleday, 1940 , * ∗ * ''Leif the Lucky'', Doubleday, Doran, 1941 * ∗ * ''The Star Spangled Banner'', Doubleday, Doran, 1942 * ''Don’t Count Your Chicks'', Doubleday, 1943 * ''Wings for Per'', Doubleday, 1944 * ''Too Big'', Doubleday, 1945 * * ''Pocahontas'', Doubleday, 1946 * ∗ * ''Nils'', Doubleday, 1948 * ''Foxie'', Doubleday, 1949 * * ''Benjamin Franklin'', Doubleday, 1950 * ∗ * ''Buffalo Bill'', Doubleday, 1952 * ∗ * ''The Two Cars'', Doubleday, 1955 * * ''Columbus'', Doubleday, 1955 * ∗ * ''The Magic Meadow'', Doubleday, 1958 * ''d'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths'', Doubleday, 1962 * ∗ (Also available in unabridged audio CD, narrated by Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, Kathleen Turner, and Matthew Broderick.)∗ * ''Norse Gods and Giants'', Doubleday, 1967 * † ∗ * ''Trolls'', Doubleday, 1972 * # ∗ * ''The Terrible Troll Bird'', Doubleday, 1976 * ‡
* Currently in print
, Reissued ''d'Aulaire's Book of Animals'', New York Review Books, 2007''D'Aulaire's Book of Animals''
(2007 edition). LC catalog record. See linked publisher description.
# Reissued as ''d'Aulaires' Trolls'', New York Review Books, 2006
† Reissued as ''d'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths'', New York Review Books, 2005
‡ Based on the earlier ''Ola and Blakken''
% Reissued by the University of Minnesota Press, 2012
%% Reissued by the University of Minnesota Press, 2013
%%% Reissued by the University of Minnesota Press, 2016

References

External links

* * * * * Edgar Parin and Ingri D'Aulaire Papers. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
"The d'Aulaires' Children's Books"
at Facebook {{DEFAULTSORT:Aulaire, Ingri And Edgar Parin d' American children's writers American children's book illustrators Caldecott Medal winners Married couples People from Kongsberg People from Wilton, Connecticut Writers from Connecticut Writers who illustrated their own writing Writing duos