Leonard Weisgard

Leonard Joseph Weisgard (December 13, 1916 – January 14, 2000)[1] was an American writer and illustrator of more than 200 children's books. He is known best for his collaborations with writer Margaret Wise Brown.

Leonard Weisgard
Born
Leonard Joseph Weisgard

(1916-12-12)December 12, 1916
New Haven, Connecticut, USA
DiedJanuary 14, 2000(2000-01-14) (aged 83)
Denmark
NationalityAmerican
EducationPratt Institute
Known forChildren's picture book illustration
Notable work
Collaborations with Margaret Wise Brown
Spouse(s)Phyllis Monnot
AwardsCaldecott Medal
1947

Biography

Weisgard was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and spent most of his childhood in England. He studied art at the Pratt Institute in New York City.

His first book, Suki the Siamese Pussy, was published in 1937, and his first collaboration with Brown was two years later, The Noisy Book. He won the 1948 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration, recognizing The Little Island, written by Brown. They collaborated again on The Important Book, published by Harper & Brothers in 1949. Altogether, Weisgard illustrated at least 14 of Brown's books, including two that were published posthumously. (Brown wrote the text for six books that were published as by "Golden MacDonald". All were unpaged picture books illustrated by Weisgard and published by Doubleday.)[2]

Writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was a Newbery Medal runner-up in 1956 for The Secret River, which Weisgard illustrated.

Weisgard married Phyllis Monnot in 1951 and moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, with her and their three children in 1969. He died on January 14, 2000, in Denmark.

References
  1. Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults, 2nd ed., 8 vols. Gale Group, 2002.
  2. Gaston, Bibi. The Loveliest Woman in America: A Tragic Actress, Her Lost Diaries, and Her Granddaughter's Search for Home, William Morrow (2008), p. 152.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.