Janosch (, born as Horst Eckert on 11 March 1931) is a German children's author and illustrator.

Biography

Janosch was born as Horst Eckert in what was then Hindenburg (now

Zabrze Zabrze (; German: 1915–1945: ''Hindenburg O.S.'', full form: ''Hindenburg in Oberschlesien'', Silesian: ''Zŏbrze'', yi, זאַבזשע, Zabzhe) is an industrial city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The west district of the Sil ...

, Poland) in

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

to a family of mixed German and Polish origin, though he identifies his nationality as "

Silesian Silesian as an adjective can mean anything from or related to Silesia. As a noun, it refers to an article, item, or person of or from Silesia. Silesian may also refer to: People and languages * Silesians, inhabitants of Silesia, either a West S ...

". His mother was a pious Catholic, and his father a violent alcoholic. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the family fled to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. In the area of Oldenburg, Janosch worked in a textile mill. In 1953, he went to

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 ...

, where he studied for some terms at the Academy of Arts, but broke off his studies eventually. Afterwards, he worked as a freelance artist. In 1960, his first book for children was published with

George Lentz George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Preside ...

, a friend of his, who also persuaded him to take on the penname ''Janosch''. Within the next 10 years, numerous books for children followed with different publishing houses. He also published books for adults, in which he deals with his childhood experiences of growing up with an abusive father and a God-fearing mother, constantly recurring topics being friendship, family relationships, and the quest for the meaning of life. Amongst his most famous figures is the Tigerente that appears in ''Oh, wie schön ist Panama'' and the stories around the little tiger and the little bear. From 1953 to 1980 the artist lived in

. By 1980, he had published over 100 books for children in nearly 30 languages. By then, he had left Germany, and lives since 1980 on the island of

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the Archipelago, archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitant ...

in the Atlantic Ocean.

Awards

Among others, he has received the following awards: * 1975: Literaturpreis der Stadt München * 1979: German Youth Literature Award * 1984:

Zilveren Griffel The Gouden Griffel (Golden Stylus) is an award given to authors of children's or teenagers' literature in the Netherlands. History Since 1971, it is awarded each year during the Dutch Children's Books Week, by the Stichting Collectieve Prop ...

* 1993:

Bundesverdienstkreuz The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

Works

In German, Janosch published until today about 150 books which in part were translated into 30 languages.Philipp Zieger: ''Janosch''. In: ''

Südkurier The Südkurier is a regional daily newspaper in Germany serving the regions northwest of Lake Constance, Hochrhein and Black Forest with its headquarters Konstanz, Germany. The paper appears with a circulation of around 130,000, six times per wee ...

'' vom 13. Mai 2009. * '' Die Geschichte von Valek dem Pferd''. Georg-Lentz-Verlag, Munich 1960. * ''

Valek und Jarosch Valek or Válek is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Erika Valek (born 1982), Colombian basketball player *Jim Valek (1928–2005), American football player and coach *Miroslav Válek (1927–1991), Slovak poet, publicist and pol ...

''. Georg-Lentz-Verlag, Munich 1960. * ''

Das kleine Schiff Das or DAS may refer to: Organizations * Dame Allan's Schools, Fenham, Newcastle upon Tyne, England * Danish Aviation Systems, a supplier and developer of unmanned aerial vehicles * Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, a former Colombian ...

''. Georg-Lentz-Verlag, Munich 1960. * '' Der Josa mit der Zauberfidel''. Georg-Lentz-Verlag, Munich 1960. * '. Parabel-Verlag, Munich 1964. * '' Das Auto hier heißt Ferdinand''. Parabel-Verlag, Munich 1964, . * '' Böllerbam und der Vogel''. Middelhauve Verlag,

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

1968, . * '' Cholonek oder Der liebe Gott aus Lehm''. Georg-Bitter-Verlag, Recklinghausen 1970, . * ''

Lari Fari Mogelzahn Lari may refer to: Currency * Georgian lari, the currency of Georgia * Maldivian laari, or lari, a coin denomination of the rufiyaa of the Maldives Places *Lari Constituency, an electoral constituency in Kenya *Lari, Ardabil, or Lahrud, a ...

''. Beltz-Verlag,

Weinheim Weinheim (; pfl, Woinem) is a town with about 43,000 inhabitants in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is in the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, approximately north of Heidelberg and northeast of Mannheim. Weinheim is known as the "Zwei ...

1971, . * ''

Leo Zauberfloh Leo or Léo may refer to: Acronyms * Law enforcement officer * Law enforcement organisation * '' Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky * Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Arts ...

''. dtv, Munich 1975, . * '' Sacharin im Salat''. Bertelsmann-Verlag, Munich 1975, . * '' Update on Rumpelstiltskin and other Fairy Tales by 43 Authors''.

Beltz & Gelberg Hans-Joachim Gelberg (27 August 1930 – 17 May 2020) was a German writer and publisher of children's books, who received several awards. Biography Gelberg was born in Dortmund and later lived in Weinheim, Baden Württemberg. Gelberg founded i ...

1976, . * '' Traumstunde für Siebenschläfer''. Beltz-Verlag,

1977, . * '' Die Maus hat rote Strümpfe an''. Beltz-Verlag,

1978, . * '. Beltz-Verlag,

1978, . **English translation: ''The Trip to Panama''. Beltz & Gelberg Verlag, Weinheim 1990, . translator:

Anthea Bell Anthea Bell (10 May 1936 – 18 October 2018) was an English translator of literary works, including children's literature, from French, German and Danish. These include '' The Castle'' by Franz Kafka, '' Austerlitz'' by W. G. Sebald, the '' I ...

* '' Sandstrand''. Beltz-Verlag,

1979, ; Merlin Verlag, Gifkendorf 2001, . * '. Beltz-Verlag,

1979, . * '' Schnuddelbuddel sagt Gutnacht''.

Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag The dtv Verlagsgesellschaft is a German publishing house headquartered in Munich. It was founded in 1960 by eleven publishers as a common paperback publishing house named "Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag" (German paperback publishing house). Starti ...

, Munich 1979, . * '. Beltz-Verlag,

1980, . * '' The City meets the Country''.

1980, . * ''

Das Leben der Thiere