Wilhelm Otto (W.O) Kühne (1924–1988) award-winning
author
In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...
of
children's literature
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...
and editor of ''Die Jongspan'' and ''
Die Burger
''Die Burger'' (English: The Citizen) is a daily Afrikaans-language newspaper, published by Naspers. By 2008, it had a circulation of 91,665 in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa. Along with '' Beeld'' and '' Volksblad'', it ...
'' in
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. One of the foremost children's authors in the
Afrikaans language
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento that speaks the Patagonian dialect. It evolved from the Dutc ...
, the most notable of his books are the ''Huppelkind'' series and ''Die wonderbaarlike motor van Barnabas Bombas'' (1981). Kühne won the inaugural C. P. Hoogenhout Award for Afrikaans children's literature for his book ''Huppel verjaar' http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=2845] His wife, the illustrator Dorothy Hill, illustrated the entire ''Huppelkind'' series along with many of his other of his books. An interview with his wife and collaborator Dorothy Hill in 2018, 50 years after the first edition of the Huppelkind book, gave more details on their work together.
Early life
Wilhelm Otto (W.O.) Kühne was born near
Graaff-Reinet
Graaff-Reinet (; Xhosa: eRhafu) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province and the fourth oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The to ...
in 1924. He taught at Vredehoek Primary School in
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
before joining the editorial staff of Die Burger where he worked, among other things, as a yachting reporter. He subsequently wrote for Die Huisgenoot and Sarie Marais magazines and was the editor of Die Jongspan. He had a popular daily column in Die Burger called ''Van Alle Kante.''
Career
W.O. Kühne is best known for his Huppelkind stories. They were first published as stories in Klein Burger and were published as six separate Huppelkind books by Tafelberg from 1958 to 1960. The six classic stories have recently been brought together in an anthology celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the first edition in printed in 1958. Huppel's appeal has been likened to that of Christopher Robin in English
children's literature
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...
and the play on rhythm, words and sounds in Kühne's prose strongly reminds of
Dr Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel ( ;"Seuss" '' Mikro for first prize in the Nasionale Boekhandel Youth Stories competition in 1961, written to commemorate the first Afrikaans book in 1861. It has two editions and twelve reprints experience.
Kühne translated or retold a number of nursery stories such as Die flukse kabouters van Keulen (1969), My prentepoetseboek (1976), and four books in a series of Bible stories for children, namely The birth of Jesus, Moses in the basket, David and Goliath and the childhood of Jesus, all published in 1982.
Death
W.O. Kühne died in 1988.
Selected works
* ''Die nagvlieërs'', Tafelberg (1957)
* ''Die indringers'', Tafelberg (1958)
* ''Huppelkind'', Tafelberg (1958)
* ''Huppel maak 'n plan'', Tafelberg (1958)
* ''Wip-Huppel-Wip'', Tafelberg (1959)
* ''Vrolike Huppelkind'', Tafelberg (1959)
* ''Huppel by die water'', Tafelberg (1960)
* ''Huppel verjaar'', Tafelberg (1960)
* ''Huppel en sy maats'' (anthology, 1982, , )
* ''Kassie Krog in die knyp'', Tafelberg (1960)
* ''Die wonderbaarlike motor van Barnabas Bombas'', Nasionale Boekhandel (1981)
* ''Die mededingers'', Tafelberg (1962)
* ''Die kring van Keerom'', Tafelberg (1962)
* ''Hoera vir Klaas Jas!'', Tafelberg (1975)
* ''Piet-’n-Jan'', Tafelberg (1975)
* ''Die waterskeiding'', Tafelberg (1981)
* ''Die vloedramp'', Tafelberg (1981)
* ''Pot, graaf en houtvurk'', Tafelberg (1983)
* ''Die wonderbaarlike wedervaringe van Jurie Losper en Broer Herklaas'', Tafelberg (1984)
* ''Pip in Otterland'', Tafelberg (1983)
* ''Eendag was daar ’n witborskraai: ’n fantasieverhaal'', Tafelberg (1985)
* ''Huppelkind anthology'', Tafelberg (2018)
Awards
*''C.P. Hoogenhout Award'' (1960) – Huppel verjaar
*''Nasionale Boekhandel Youth Story Competition'' (1961) – Die kring van Keerom