Innocenti, Schubiger Win Hans Christian Andersen Awards

SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 4/29/2008 2:43:00 PM

Roberto Innocenti, the Italian illustrator known for his delicate, painterly style, is the winner of this year's Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration.  And Jürg Schubiger of Switzerland, the author of When the World Was New (Annick, 1996), is the winner of the 2008 Hans Christian Andersen Author Award. The awards—which were announced on March 31 at the Bologna Children’s Book—are the highest international distinction for creators of children's books. 

Innocenti is often lauded for the fact that he is a self-taught artist. Born near Florence, Italy, in 1940, he went to work in a steel mill at age 13, then at 18 moved to Rome. There he found work with an animation studio and taught himself illustration. He began by creating posters for films, and at age 30, began illustrating books. In 1985, he cowrote and illustrated Rose Blanche, a Holocaust tale, which brought him international attention. He has also illustrated such classics as The Adventures of Pinocchio (Random, 1988), A Christmas Carol (1995), and Nutcracker (2005, both Creative Company). 

Schubiger, who was born in Zurich in 1936, has worked as a gardener and lumberjack in diverse places like South Africa, Corsica, and Spain. In the 1970s he became an editor and publisher while training as a therapist. He became more widely known in 1996 with the publication of his story collection Als die Welt noch jung war. He has since published a number of successful children's books.