Haunted House

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Pieńkowski illustrated his first book at the age of eight, as a present for his father. During World War II, Pieńkowski's family moved about Europe, finally settling in Herefordshire, England in 1946. He attended the Cardinal Vaughan School in London, and later read English and Classics at King's College, Cambridge. Jan Michał Pieńkowski (8 August 1936 – 19 February 2022) was a Polish-born British author of children's books—as illustrator, as writer, and as designer of movable books. He is best known for illustrating the Meg and Mog picture book series. [1] He also designed for the theatre. For his contribution as a children's illustrator he was UK nominee in 1982 and again in 2008 for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books. [2] [3] a b (Greenaway Winner 1971). Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 15 July 2012. Pieńkowski is probably best known for illustrating the Meg and Mog books written by Helen Nicoll, and for his pop-up books including Haunted House, Robot, Dinner Time, Good Night and 17 others. D. Martin, "Jan Pienkowski", in Douglas Martin, The Telling Line: Essays On Fifteen Contemporary Book Illustrators (Julia MacRae Books, 1989), pp.187–201

Along with The Great Green Mouse Disaster, this was one of the few books that I would hunt down in my local library as a child. I am sure it is synonymous to almost every child's reading history from the 80s (it was published in 1979) and has, fortunately, recently been reprinted.The Booker Prize trophy: the story behind our distinctive statuette". The Booker Prizes . Retrieved 6 February 2023.

a b c "Jan Pienkowski". Broadcast episode recording (45 minutes). Desert Island Discs, Sunday, 18 October 2009. BBC Radio4. Retrieved 1 December 2012. Styles, Morag (20 February 2022). "Jan Pieńkowski obituary". The Guardian . Retrieved 21 February 2022. After leaving university, together they founded the Gallery Five greeting cards company. [1] He began illustrating children's books in spare time but soon found it taking all his time. In 1969, Pieńkowski designed a trophy for the Booker Prize, which was unveiled at the first prize ceremony that year, with the statuette being awarded to P. H. Newby. [16] Although the statuette was out of use for many years, after Pieńkowski's death it was reinstated in his honour and was awarded to the winner of the Booker Prize 2022, Shehan Karunatilaka. [17] Books [ edit ] As a young child, Pieńkowski was taught by his mother, who encouraged his passion for drawing and making things. On arrival in Britain, aged 10, he was sent to Lucton boarding school in Herefordshire, and added English to his already fluent German, Italian and Polish. His passion for art developed further after he started life-drawing classes at the age of 13.After Nicoll died in 2012, he added further Meg and Mog titles with new stories written by his partner, David Walser. Pieńkowski and Walser, a translator, artist, musician and writer, had been together for more than 40 years when they became civil partners in 2005 – as soon as it was possible to do so – settling in Hammersmith, west London. A devout Catholic, Pieńkowski was sorry not to be able to have the union solemnised in church, although his priest said vespers for the couple. In 2019, Pienkowski was awarded the Booktrust's Lifetime Achievement Award. [12] Personal life and death [ edit ]