Janina Domańska (28 July 1913 – 2 February 1995) was a Polish-born American artist, author and illustrator. She is best known for her self-illustrated children's books. She won a

Caldecott Honor 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 Service ...

for her book ''If All the Seas Were One Sea'' in 1972.

Personal life

Domańska was born in Warsaw. She graduated from the

Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw () is a public university of visual arts and applied arts located in the Polish capital. The academy traces its history back to the Department of Arts founded at the Warsaw University in the Duchy of Warsaw in 18 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

in 1939. She was held briefly in a concentration camp in Germany, before being released to stay with a doctor and his family in Germany. In 1946 Domanska studied painting in Italy, and then emigrated to the United States in 1952. She worked designing textiles before she began creating book illustrations. She was married to writer Jerzy Laskowski. And later to Ernest Nossen. She lived in New Fairfield, Connecticut.

Career

Domańska wrote, adapted and translated 22 books with her own illustrations. She also illustrated 23 books by other authors. Her own titles include ''The Tortoise and the Tree'', ''Din Dan Don It's Christmas'', ''Spring is'', and ''The Best of the Bargain''. Her book ''King Krakus and the Dragon'' received a starred Kirkus review highlighting the "rich color, sumptuous design, and a splendid peacock of a dragon

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

adorn this old Polish tale of King Krakus who founded Krakow." The books she illustrated that were written by others include an edition of Trumpeter of Kraków, the Newbery award winning children’s novel by Eric P. Kelly.

Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil i Lönneberga, Emil of Lönneberga, ...

's Mischievous Meg; the 1992 version of ''The Bremen Town Musicians'' by the brothers Grimm; and ''Ten and a Kid'' by Sadie Rose Weilerstein, which won the 1962

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1943, is an American organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature. The goal of the council, as stated on its website, is "to promote the reading, writing and publishing of qual ...

for children's literature. She also created a poster supporting poetry in 1975 for the Children's Book Council

Legacy

The Ezra Jack Keats/Janina Domanska Research Fellowship was established at the University of Southern Mississippi through the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, the Janina Domanska Literary Estate, and the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection. The aim of the program was to support “scholars engaged in projects based substantially on the holdings of the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection.” A selection of Domanska's papers relating to 14 books that she published between 1962-78 are held in the Children's Literature Resource Collection at the University of Minnesota Library. Damanska’s correspondence from 1966-1990 as well as books and cards she created are part of the Grummond Collection at the McCain Library at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Publications

Author and illustrator

* Why So Much Noise? (1964) HarperCollins * Palmiero and the Ogre (1967) by Macmillan * Look, There is a Turtle Flying (1969) by Macmillan * Marilka (1970) Macmillan * If All The Seas Were One Sea (1971) Macmillan * The Turnip (1972) Atheneum * Little Red Hen (1973) Macmillan * I Saw A Ship A-Sailing (1973) Hamish Hamilton * What Do You See? (1974) Macmillan * Din Dan Don, It's Christmas (1975) Greenwillow Books * Spring Is (1976) by Greenwillow Books * The Best of the Bargain (1977) Greenwillow Books * The Tortoise and the Tree (1978) Greenwillow Books * King Krakus and the Dragon (1979) Greenwillow Books * A Scythe, a Rooster, and a Cat (1981) Greenwillow Books * Marek, the Little Fool (1982) Greenwillow Books * What Happens Next? (1983) by Greenwillow Books * Busy Monday Morning (1985) Greenwillow Books * The First Noel (1986) Greenwillow Books * A Was an Angler (1991) Greenwillow Books * Down on the Farm: Collection of Stories

Illustrator of books by other authors

* More Tales of Faraway Folk, by Babette Deutch and Avrahm Yarmolinsky (1952) * Best in Children's Books 10, edited by Mary Macnab and Gladys Schwarz (1958) Doubleday * Clocks Tell the Time, by Alma Kehoe Reck (1960) Charles Scribner * Ten and a Kid, by Sadie Rose Weilerstein (1961) Jewish Publication Society of America * The Song of the Lop-eared Mule, by Natalie Savage Carlson (1961) Harper Collins * The Golden Seed, by Maria Konopnicka (1962) Scribner * Mischievous Meg, by Astrid Lindgren (1962) Viking * In Place of Katia, by Mara Kay (1963) * I Like Weather, by Aileen Fisher (1963) Harper Collins * The Magic World, by Elisabeth Beresford (1964) Bobbs-Merrill riginal title: Awkward Magic* The Coconut Thieves, adapted by Catharine Fournier (1964) Charles Scribner's Sons * Nikkos and the Pink Pelican, by Ruth Tooze (1964) Viking Press * Master of the Royal Cat, by Jerzy Laskowski (1965) * The Trumpeter of Krakow, by Eric P. Kelly (original publication 1928) (1966) Macmillan * The Black Heart of Indri, adapted by Dorothy Hoge (1966) Charles Scribner * The Dragon liked Smoked Fish, by Jerzy Laskowski (1967) * Whizz, by Edward Lear (1973), MacmillanAlexander Taylor, Eight Current Children's Books: A Mixed Bag, ''Children's Literature,'' Volume 3. pp. 198-202. * The Fifth Day, by Mary Q. Steele (1978) Greenwillow Books * The Bremen Town Musicians, by Jacob Grimm (1980) Greenwillow Books * The Art of Polish Cooking, by Alina Żerańska (1989)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Domanska, Janina 1913 births 1995 deaths American children's book illustrators American women children's book illustrators Polish children's book illustrators Polish women children's book illustrators American children's writers Polish children's writers American women children's writers Polish women children's writers Artists from Warsaw Polish emigrants to the United States 20th-century Polish women writers 20th-century American women writers Writers who illustrated their own writing