Author-Illustrator Max Velthuijs Dies at 81

By Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 3/1/2005

Award-winning Dutch children's author and illustrator Max Velthuijs, best known for his books about a frog, died January 25 of lung cancer in Amsterdam. He was 81.

Born in The Hague in 1923, Velthuijs studied graphic design and art at the Academie voor beeldednde Kusten in Arnhem. After World War II, he produced political prints and received commissions for posters, postage stamps, book jackets, animated films, and TV commercials.

Velthuijs's career as an illustrator and author of children's books took off in 1962, when Swiss publishers Nord-Süd Verlag, attracted to his powerful, yet simple drawings, asked him to illustrate a picture book. Velthuijs released his first picture book, The Boy and the Fish, in 1969. Twenty years later, with the release of Frog in Love (Holt, 1989), Velthuijs began to focus on creating children's books. Frog in Winter (Andersen Press, 1994) and Frog Is Frightened (HarperCollins, 1995), two popular titles in the series, have been translated into two dozen languages.

Last summer, Velthuijs received the 2004 Hans Christian Andersen Award for illustration, the highest international honor bestowed upon an author or illustrator of children's books. At the time, the Andersen jury said, "Velthuijs has proven many times over that he understands children: their doubts, fears, and exhilarations."

Toin Duijx, of the Dutch International Board on Books For Young People, which sponsors the award, said Velthuijs's acceptance speech impressed everyone. "The jury's decision to award this prize to me filled me with pride, but also with amazement, since winning prizes was never my aim," Velthuijs said.