Rotraut Susanne Berner (Germany)
Finalist, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004  

b. 1948, Stuttgart, Germany
Other awards include: Celestino-Piatti-Preis for book-illustration (1983), Deutscher Jugenliteraturpreis (1984, 1996, & 1998), National Art Library Illustration Award (1997), Zilverner Penseel (1997 & 2001)

Before entering the field of children's illustration, Rotraut Susanne Berner worked for several years in publisher advertising, and has been a freelance graphic artist and illustrator since 1977. In her statement in Ms. Berner's dossier, Elisabeth Hohmeister writes that Ms. Berner "composes her pictures with playful ease and spikes them with witty details. She uses a solid touch of color to emphasize bright red puckered lips in an otherwise black-and-white illustration in order to underscore the beauty that is described in the text. She approaches her temperamental protagonists from different perspectives, zooming in on them or letting them march across the lines in small, well-behaved columns. ... From the beginning she has revealed her insight into the souls of children. She captures the joys and the sorrows of children with great seriousness, affection and respect"
(Elisabeth Hohmeister, "Rotraut Susanne Berner's contribution to children's literature," in Ms. Berner's HCA dossier, 2004.)

Lilian Brøgger (Denmark)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1950, Fanø, Denmark
Other awards include: Association of Children's Librarians' Cultural Award (1982), Ministry of Culture's Award for Illustrators (1984), Gylendal's Book Award (1985), Ministry of Culture's Award for Initiative (1986), Association of Danish School Librarians' Award for Children's Literature (1999), Danish Hans Christian Andersen Award (2002)

Lilian Brøgger was the first graduate of the Copenhagen School of Arts and Crafts to finish with a degree in illustration—an early indicator of the innovativeness that would mark the rest of her career. As an instructor, she has had a strong influence on the new generation of Danish illustrators, called the "Young Wild Ones from Kolding," while as an artist she has always remained at odds with the norm. As Cato Thau-Jensen puts it in her dossier, "Nothing is too pretty and nothing too ugly to be included in Lilian Brøgger's pictures. Her work is about capturing what stimulates and inspires, without bowing too much to the pressures of political correctness. There are many opinions about what belongs and does not belong in children's books, but in the last analysis the important thing is how the content is presented. Lilian has a natural attitude to nudity, smoking and modern furniture design, and is always open to new themes. ... In her use of perspective, she does not follow the standard rules, but adapts to meet the atmospheric and narrative needs of a given situation. ... There is also the pure fact of being in love with forms, of all kinds: a toilet bowl can be just as wonderful to draw as Arne Jacobsen's designer eggs."
(Cato Thau-Jensen, "An Essay on Lilian Brøgger," in Ms. Brøgger's HCA dossier, 2004.)

Peter Cisárik (Slovak Republic)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1958, Teplice, Czech Republic
Other awards include: Czech and Slovak Nicest Books (1990), The Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia (1993, 1996, 2000, & 2002), L'udovit Fulla Award for Illustration Production for Children (1997)

Prior to becoming an illustrator, Peter Cisárik studied stage design and puppetry for many years. This background influenced his later illustrations, as his dossier attests: "Peter Cisarik loves to work with details, or — more exactly, as filmmakers call it — with big details. Perhaps the illustrator's stage-design experience applies in this. A certain artefact placed in a monochrome background, or in a neutral surface, protrudes to the foreground — some thing, an object on which the story goes on [sic]. There may be a huge strawberry, a flying object, or a chair... Any of these things may work as the base of characters' doing."
("Assessment of the Contribution to Production for Children," in Mr. Cisárik's HCA dossier, 2004.)

Kitty Crowther (Belgium)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1970, Brussels, Belgium

Kitty Crowther developed a love for books in early childhood, due in part to the fact that she was born with a hearing defect that delayed her speaking until the age of four. Her dossier provides this comment on her work: "Kitty's style speaks for itself. A simple, pure line, a light stroke that creates movement, that traces emotion, that touches the heart. Characters are drawn with a few, clear pen strokes and are revealed subtly. 'I'm fascinated by movement, the line that trembles, that is agitated, hard, soft.' This young 33-year-old woman is not interested in reproducing reality. She is concerned much more with reinventing experience. As she searches for meaning and for accuracy, she does not allow herself to be distracted by the gaze of others. 'I am not a fan of drawing only after painstaking sketching. I prefer to draw a gesture or an attitude that I recall from memory. I trust my visual memory. I try to be true to myself. Everything that I put in my books comes from experiences that have touched me profoundly. I try to recreate this special energy as closely as possible because it is beautiful. Restoring things because they are pretty does not have meaning for me. I live what I draw."
("Kitty Crowther," in Ms. Crowther's HCA dossier, 2004, internal quotes from author.)

Niki Daly (South Africa)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1946, Cape Town, South Africa
Other awards include: Katrine Harries Award for Illustrated Books (1986), Parents Choice Award for Literature (1986, 1996, & 2003), IBBY Honour List (1994, 1995, & 2000), New York Times Certificate of Excellence (1995), Children's Literature Choice Award (1999), ALA Blue Ribbon (2000), Best Book for Young Children Award of African Studies Association (2002)

Niki Daly grew up on the outskirts of District Six, an island of multiculturalism in apartheid Cape Town before it was razed by the government in 1966. That early dose of integration amid the segregation had a powerful influence on Mr. Daly's depictions of South African life upon becoming an illustrator in 1976. His work spans widely in terms of both style and subject matter, drawing on each of his home country's ethnic groups as potential protagonists. Regarding Mr. Daly's style in particular, Paddy Bouma concludes, "In spite of the astonishing variety within Niki's work, his hand is unmistakable as a signature in everything he does. It is in the line and the classic sense of space ... It is in the vitality of his characters, the way they seem to dance across the page, the jaunty walk, the tapping feet, the joy of being alive in spite of settings often associated with dire poverty. ... It is in the bracing spunkiness of his child characters confronted by adversity, whatever its shape and size. Above all, it is in its unfailing humanity."
(Paddy Bouma, "Niki Daly, the illustrator," in Mr. Daly's HCA dossier, 2004.)

Helmi Abdel-Hamid El-Touni (Egypt)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1934, Egypt
Other awards include: Leipzig Book Fair Bronze Medal (1982), First winner of the Children's Book Prize from the Cairo International Book Fair (1998), First Prize in the Suzanne Mubarak Competition for Children's Literature (1999 and 2000), Bologna Ragazzi New Horizons Award (2002)

Helmi El-Touni has been illustrating works for children since his sophomore year in college. He has worked to promote the use of "pure Egyptian visual content" in works for children for over 40 years, showing his devotion to his country and culture, and simultaneously, from a more outward-reaching perspective, he was also the first Egyptian artist ever to receive a non-Arab award for illustration, at Leipzig in 1982. When his Most Beautiful Folk Tales went on to win the Bologna Ragazzi New Horizons award for his publishing house in 2002, the jury commented that "...After so many 'Orients' invented in the West, here we finally are given a view of far off lands untrammeled by artificial overlays. For a young western reader this book could provide an entirely new insight into a world that has always been presented through filters and interpretations. The authentic origins of this work are evident in the different stylistic perspectives while the vibrant use of color is a narrative element that captures the reader's attention from the outset."
("A narrative describing Mr. Helmy El-Touni's contribution to literature for young people," in Mr. El-Touni's HCA dossier, 2004)

Eva Eriksson (Sweden)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. Halmstad, Sweden, 1949
Other awards include: Premio Europeo di Letteratura Giovanile Provincia di Trento (1980), Elsa Beskow plaquette (1981), The Expressen [Swedish Evening Paper] Heffaklump award (1981), Gold plaquette in Bratislava (1981), BMF plaquette Din bok - vårt val (1984 & 1999), Astrid Lindgren Prize (2001)

Eva Eriksson made her debut as an illustrator in 1977. Before that, she held a variety of jobs ranging from working in a mental hospital to designing signs in Dublin. Over the past 27 years, she has alternated between writing and illustrating, and also has illustrated other writers' texts. Her second book, Om en liten vecka eller när Bella träffade Gustav [After one little week or When Bella met Gustav] caused quite a stir in her native Sweden—Regine Nordström, writing in the dossier, has this to say about it: "Here was a mixture of realism and fantasy that you could feel at home in. In an interview in 1992, Eva Eriksson describes how she herself hadn't felt at home in the world she had met in children's books when she was a child. She had seen no golden curly locks of hair or cute little nose in the mirror. So her Bella was given a different sort of face, not too detailed, and quickly sketched hands. ... Despite, or perhaps rather because of, the fact that her pictures have rarely been controversial, on can not understate their role in forming a norm for Swedish picture books during the last twenty years or so."
(Regine Nordström, "Eva Eriksson, Illustrator," in Ms. Eriksson's HCA dossier, 2004.)

Marie-Louise Gay (Canada)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1952, Quebec City, Canada
Other awards include: Canada Council Award for Children's Book Illustration - French and English (1985), Amelia Frances Howard Gibbon Award (1987, 1988), Governor-General's Award - illustration (1988), "White Raven" Selection - International Youth Library, Munich (1993), IBBY Honour List (2000)

Marie-Louise Gay "discovered she could draw at age seventeen," according to her dossier. She attended art school, but never graduated; instead, she continued her career as an illustrator, having already begun doing artwork for magazines while still in school. She went on to work in children's book publishing, in addition to her work as a writer and illustrator, and has also written a number of plays for children, creating the puppets, sets and costumes for them herself. Her fluency in both of Canada's official languages — English and French — has helped her career, as she is equally comfortable writing in both languages, and frequently translates her own work.
(Theo Heras, "Marie-Louise Gay: Brief Biography," in Ms. Gay's HCA dossier, 2004)

Armin Greder (Switzerland)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1942, Biel, Switzerland
Other awards include: Australian Multicultural Children's Literature Award (1992), Australian Book Publisher's Association: Award Book Design (1993 & 1994), IBBY Honour List (1996), Premio Ragazzi Bologna (2000), BIB Bienniale der Illustration Bratislava: Goldener Apfel/Golden Apple (2003)

Armin Greder didn't plan to become an illustrator. Rather, he started out as an architectural draughtsman and model-builder, working on illustrations and satirical drawings only as a sidelight. Through this work, he began to develop confidence as an illustrator, honing his skill at condensing ideas in the way that satire requires — a skill that would carry over into his later work. As his dossier puts it, "the art of condensing enables him to develop small, optional vignettes, which fully develop their effect on the page of a book, staying within the margins or even consciously going beyond them. Whether in a brochure on road safety for cyclists, in short stories by Roald Dahl or in a maths book, the drawings do not impose themselves on us with their extravagance or colours, yet they are — even when they are small — striking statements."
("Armin Greder — his picture books: A chronological survey of his works," in Mr. Greder's HCA dossier, 2004.)

Roberto Innocenti (Italy)
Finalist, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b.1940, Florence, Italy
Other awards include: Golden Apple by Bib, Bratislava (1985 & 1991), Gustav Hainemann Prize for Peace (Essen, 1985), Enfantasie Prize (Ginevra, 1990), Lucca Comics Prize for Best Illustrator (1999), Under '40 Fiction Prize (2001), Certificate of Excellence by New York Times (2002)

Alexander Koshkin (Russia)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1952, Moscow, Russia (USSR)
Other awards include: All-Russia Contest in Art Books First Degree Diploma (1982), All-Russia Competition - Art of the Book - Special Diploma (1993), Diploma of the Russian Academy of Arts Art of the Book (1996)

Alexander Koshkin began drawing when he was 3 years old, and from that moment on it was clear that he would be an artist. He began working as a children's book illustrator while still a student, and once the USSR began to open up more as a society, he was among the first illustrators in the country to begin to cooperate with foreign publishers, in Britain and the US. According to his dossier, "Alexander Koshkin's illustrations, painted in the watercolor technique are characterized by the elegant precise drawing [and] picturesque usage of tender and diaphanous colours ... Spacious, extensiona, varicoloured manner of drawing established in A.A. Koshkin's works. His touch is akin to painting with its immense possibilities of depiction, where the circumstance[s] of printing don't get in the artist's way. Slight reminiscence of the manuscript book defined adequate relation of the drawing and the text. ... [It] is important to mark that in his works A.A. Koshkin doesn't indulge a child's naivety - in a child he sees future, miscellaneous grown-up."
("I Hold a drawing in my Hands," in Mr. Koshkin's HCA dossier, 2004)

Mauri Kunnas (Finland)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1950, Vammala, Finland
Other awards include: State Literary Award (1981), Finnish Broadcasting Company's Prize for Export Achievement (1998), Puupäähattu Prize (n.d.), and other prizes from the Bologna Children's Book Fair.

Over the past 30 years, Mauri Kunnas has worked as a comic strip artist and children's book illustrator, and as an editorial cartoonist for some of Finland's top magazines and newspapers. According to his dossier, "At present Mauri Kunnas is undoubtedly one of Finland's most successful authors of children's books. ... His books for children have aroused enormous interest around the world. The best known internationally is Santa Claus. It has already been translated into fourteen languages, and it has sold more than a million copies. He offers the little reader an unparalleled joy of discovery: his brilliantly coloured illustrations are filled with delightful and humorous details. And his books always give off an atmosphere which is contagiously warm and happy."
("Works," in Mr. Kunnas's HCA dossier, 2004.)

Angela Lago (Brazil)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004 

b. 1946, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

A statement from the artist: "I believe that my contributions to literature for young people are questions. These questions are related to the Picture Book as a media: Why not consider the tridimensional aspect of the book architecture? A book is not a flat object as a painting is. It is possible, for example, to take advantage of the folding of the page, the turning of the page, or of the angle of the open book to emphasize the composition of an illustration and give it movement. Why not offer complexity and non-linear readings in a children's book? The book as a media drives to linear and non-linear readings, due to its easy handling. Besides that, the simultaneous use of the two languages, text and image, can cause ruptures in the linearity of the reading. In addition to these researches, my concern is to testify more and more my time and my culture. But what is really my time and my culture?"
(Angela Lago, "Contribution," in Ms. Lago's HCA dossier, 2004.) 

Svein Nyhus (Norway)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004 

b. 1962, Tønsberg, Norway
Other awards include: Norwegian Ministry of Culture's Picture Book Prize (1998), The Unni Sand Picture Book Prize (2000), The School Librarians' Picture Book Prize (2000), The Ministry of Culture's Prize for Best Children's Book (2002), Fortuna Interbok's Honour Prize (2002)

Svein Nyhus began his work in illustration by drawing for magazines and newspapers. Only after he got a job working on children's textbook illustration with his twin brother (who is also an illustrator) did he move into the field of children's book illustration, where he has remained for the last 10 years. He writes many of his own works, but has also had many successes illustrating books written by his wife, Gro Dahle. His dossier provides this description of his artistic style: "Inspired by the cartoon tradition and pop culture, Nyhus makes use of a sophisticated comic strip style. His pictures are detailed, stylistically assured, controlled and detailed with clearly delineated forms. His illustrations are muted in tone, executed in a mixture of pencil/coloured pencil and crayon. The narrative background to the story is achieved using a kind of simplified functionalistic expression with elements of art deco, realised with great stylistic aplomb."
("Biographical information on the candidate: Illustrator Svein Nyhus, The Norwegian Candidate for the H.C.Andersen-award IBBY 2003," in Mr. Nyhus's HCA dossier, 2004)    

Daihachi Ohta (Japan)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1918, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
Other awards include: Nihon Douga Award (1955), Shogakukan Cultural Prize in Publishing for Children's Books (1959), and Hans Christian Andersen Domestic Award (1969).

Daihachi Ohta has been working as an illustrator for over fifty years. His style varies widely, encompassing everything from folk art to classical oil painting. Since his debut in 1949, he has illustrated roughly 130 picture books and 230 children's books. Japanese historical stories are a particular specialty of his, but he also ventures much further afield for material: among his credits are books with European-style witches and Native American characters, to name a few. Regarding his work, his editor says "Mr. Ohta's wide understanding of Japanese culture and his abundant sense of modernism well characterizes the harmony of tradition and modern. His moderate and skillful decorativeness is also one of his outstanding qualities."
(Tadashi Matsui, "What Over 50 Years of His Artworks Mean," in Mr. Ohta's HCA dossier, 2004)

Krisztina Rényi (Hungary)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1956, Budapest, Hungary
Other awards include: Albert Csilag Memorial Award (1995), Beautiful Hungarian Books - Award for Illustrators (1996), Illustrator of the Year - Hungarian IBBY Award (1998), Ferenczy Noémi State Oeuvre Award (1999), and IBBY Honour List (2000).

Krisztina Rényi started her artistic career by studying printmaking at the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest. Since graduating in 1984, she has worked in watercolor, lithography and etching in addition to regularly illustrating children's books. In her dossier, Ildikó D. Udvary has this to say: "The style of Krisztina Rényi is mainly characterized by exact, subtle delineation, by elegant, minutely elaborated forms and a dynamic, lively world of colours that are the characteristics of the classic art of drawing. This technique of drawing considered traditional both in Eastern and Western art is not an assumed manner for her but a basic principle determining all her artistic attitude. When she illustrates Hungarian folk tales she works with forms delineated by subtle lines in a similarly absorbed way. She does not change styles within one work, she does not look for different techniques that suit a given text, but she adjusts her own authentic language to the literary subjects she represents."
(Ildikó D. Udvary, "Dragon Tale: Krisztina Rényi's Illustrations to Mária Feuer's work," in Ms. Rényi's HCA dossier, 2004)

Tony Ross (United Kingdom)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1938, London, England
Other awards include: Silver Paintbrush Award (1980, 1984, 1995), German Children's Book Prize (1986), Dutch Silver Pencil Award (1987)

Tony Ross trained at the Liverpool School of Art, and has worked as a cartoonist, as a graphic designer, in advertising, and as Senior Lecturer in Art at Manchester Polytechnic. He is one of the best known children's book illustrators worldwide, and like many of the other HCA nominees, his work has been published in a number of countries. Stylistically, says his dossier, "Tony Ross' work is notable for its humour. His artwork is always amusing and often makes readers laugh out loud. He has written and illustrated many of his own books but has also collaborated with other authors — notably Jeanne Willis — to produce some of the funniest picture books available." Among his favorite themes are "the individual versus the establishment" and "pomposity pricked" which he plays with, to give a few examples, in his "Little Princess" books and in Super Dooper Jezebel, respectively.
(Ann Lazin, "Tony Ross," in Mr. Ross's HCA dossier, 2004)

Istvan Schritter (Argentina)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1968
Other awards include: ALIJA Lista de Honor (1992, 1995, 1996, & 1998), Fantasía of Argentine Children's Literature (1st prize 1998, 1st honorable mention 1999).

Istvan Schritter is a self-taught illustrator, designer, and writer, who has worked as a teacher at all levels of education, and whose television series, "Illustration of Children's Books - The unexplored sea" aired on Argentina's TelePuerto TV in 2001. His technique is generally collage, in which characters can become geometric shapes, yet through Mr. Schritter's careful use of materials, they maintain references to reality. According to his dossier, "The detailed use of materials determines an anchorage in fascination; readers are absorbed into each and every fine and minimal detail, which are so common in Istvan's productions. ... fantastic characters live within a reality which, in some cases, is avoided, absent/present in the white area of the sheet of paper, and it is the reader who must recreate it. In other cases, this reality is shown by certain conventional elements: a flower vase, a coffee mug, smoke, palm trees, houses, a ball, a balloon, a little horse. It is this coexistence of fantastic and conventional elements that creates a delicate balance, which allows us to understand the novelty in the breaking of certain parameters proper of illustration"
(Liliana Menéndez with Claudia Santanera, "From Simple to Complex," from Mr. Schritter's HCA dossier, 2004.)

Javier Serrano (Spain)
Finalist, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1946, Medina del Campo, Valladolid, Spain
Other awards include: National Prize for Children's Literature - Illustration (1991), Latin American Prize for Book Illustration (1994), APIM (Professional Association of Illustrators of Madrid) Prize (1994), Fundación Santa María Internationl Prize for Book Illustration (1999, 2002)

Javier Serrano is a painter, draughtsman, and graphic designer who began to work as an illustrator in 1983. He also frequently does work for the press and in advertising, and together with other illustrators, has founded a group called Taller Universo, dedicated to the design of tableware and collectibles. According to Antonio Basanta Reyes's testimonial in Mr. Serrano's dossier, one of the secrets of Mr. Serrano's work is "to convert each and every one of his illustrations into an appeal to the sensibility of our gaze," going on to attest that "Serrano's work is always convulsive, although this is sometimes achieved by way of its sweetness and delicacy. He frequently uses the technique of breaking down formal structure and logical reason in order to submerge us in a visual experience that manages to bring the world of reality into contact with the intuitive world, the world of dreams."
(Antonio Basanta Reyes, "Javier Serrano Pérez," in Mr. Serrano's HCA dossier, 2004)

Grégoire Solotareff (France)
Finalist, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1953, Egypt
Other awards include: Prix Bernard Versele (Belgium, 1987), Prix 1000 jeunes Lecteurs (1989), Rennes d'or d'Avoriaz (1989), Prix Sorcières, catégorie tout-petits (1992), 1st prize for children's illustration at the Bologna Book Fair (1993), Deutscher Jugenliteraturpreis (1997), Prix des critiques de la Communauté française de Belgique (1997)

Grégoire Solotareff was a practicing physician for 5 years before becoming a children's book illustrator at age 30. Since 1985, he has published 150 books under the maiden name of his mother (his father, a physician and poet of Lebanese origin, has the surname El-Kayem). When asked why he left medicine, he replies "to perform something fantastic," and cites Matisse and Van Gogh as his artistic models. His dossier emphasizes the importance of color to his work: "He uses red, blue and yellow, the colours of the 'Moderns'. Large monochromatic surfaces, emphasised by precise outlines are juxtaposed. ... Solotareff's colours narrate also. With great parsimony they are accentuated: red might be darkened or yellow transformed into light. However, they are never used in a naturalistic way. Shapes are reduced. People and objects are simplified thus reinforcing their expressiveness. The simplification of forms is not a refusal of normality but a caricature of reality, thus allowing for the humoristic observation of people and things. An unreal atmosphere ensues which enables the artist to say and portray everything, including ugliness and wrongness."
("Grégoire Solotareff," in Mr. Solotareff's HCA dossier, 2004.)

Photini Stephanidi (Greece)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1962, Athens, Greece

The child of painter Yannis Stephanidis, Photini Stephanidi began to study painting under her father at the age of six, embarking on what would become almost twenty years of studying art. Since 1987, she has worked as a painter, engraver, and illustrator, exhibiting works throughout Europe and as far away as Tokyo. About her style, noted author and critic Zoe Valassi states "A major element in her style is colour. In contrast to the prevailing fashion in publishing circles for strong colours and dazzling pages, her pictures are born from the colours of the earth, the shadows cast by stone, the luminosity and subtle shades of clouds and the lingering trace of rainbow hues left floating in the air with the passing of a butterfly. ... The draughtsmanship in Photini Stephanidi's illustrations is another distinctive feature of her style. Here is an artist who shows no interest in outlines or defining borders and gracefully avoids whatever might otherwise dominate a space. Her world is one of perpetual unbroken movement, where forms are born from their activity within the space. Slender girls and fine young men, birds and trees — all seem on the point of taking off in flight or dance."
(Zoe Valassi, "Photini Stephanidi, Illustrator," in Ms. Stephanidi's HCA dossier, 2004.)

Max Velthuijs (Netherlands)
Winner, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1923
Other awards include: Golden Pencil (1977, 1986, 1992, 1997), Graphic Award of The Society of Ilustrator (V.S., 1977), Vlag en Wimpel of the pencil-jury (1986, 1989, 1990, 1996), Prijs van de Kinder- en Jeugdjury Limburg 5-8 jaar (1989), Honourable mention - National Art Library Illustrations Award of the National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum London (1992, 1996)

Max Velthuijs studied painting and graphic design at the Acadeimie voor Beeldende Kunsten (Academy of the Visual Arts) in Arnhem. After WWII, he worked making political prints, posters, postage stamps, book jackets, animated films, advertisements, and T.V. spots. His career as an illustrator began when Swiss publishers Nord-Sud Verlag asked him to make a children's picture book in 1962. Stylistically, he is quoted in his dossier as saying, "My illustrations used to be heavier: strong outlines, thick paint. I was primarily concerned with enjoying painting; that meant that the work was more decorative and the characters less important. Since the characters have come increasingly to the fore, I can leave out more and more. The fish in my first book was purely decorative. Now my books are about the animals and other characters." The dossier goes on to say that Mr. Velthuijs's stories "have a contemporary feel to them as well as containing elements of fairytale and fable, and he does not shy away from difficult subjects such as racism (Kikker en de Vreemdeling ["Frog and the Stranger"]) and death (Kikker en het vogeltje ["Frog and the Birdsong"])."
(From Mr. Velthuijs's HCA dossier, 2004)

Wang Xiaoming (China)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004 

b. 1945, China
Other awards include: The Title of Excellent Children's Worker in China (1983), The Prize for Excellent Children's Reading in China (1991), The Golden Eagle Prize for Chinese Movie (1995), The Title of Golden Artist Making Outstanding Contributions to Chinese Publishing Cause for Children (1999)

Wang Xiaoming came of age during the Cultural Revolution, a time of chaos and violence in China, when no children's readings were allowed to be published. Nevertheless, it was at this time that Mr. Wang began to work as an illustrator, distributing hand-painted picture books to friends and family. As the decades progressed, and China along with them, Mr. Wang was able to take his skill for drawing into a more public light, working on almost innumerable publications, from Chinese editions of The 1001 Arabian Nights to series of wildly popular educational science pictorials. Stylistically, according to his dossier, "Wang's illustrations have two patterns. One of them is exemplified by Fireflies and Going Home in which there seems no visible national or regional characteristics. What he tries to express is the common theme and fate of the whole human race. The other pattern, including the Mouse's Cake and The Bottle of Good Luck, shows that he has given up the symbols found in traditional Chinese art and depicted the landscape of his homeland in a way of portraying from life. Thus he makes efforts to preserve in his stories the unsophisticated and natural beauty which is gradually disappearing nowadays. What is common in both the patterns is plainness and simplicity. The way those works are painted is just like an old man telling children stories. Wang believes that will enable his young readers understand the story better [sic]."
(Lao Chenglie, "Brief Introduction of Wang Xiaoming's Art Creation," in Mr. Wang's HCA dossier, 2004) 

Józef Wilkón (Poland)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004 

b. 1930, near Krakow, Poland
Other awards include: Prize from Polish Publishers Association (PTWK), Warsaw, for "The Most Beautiful Book of the Year" (1959, 1961, 1964, 1970, 1973(2), 1974), Deutscher Jugendbuchpreis fur Graphische Gestaltung (1966), Plaque BIB (Bratislava, 1969), Medal of the National Education Committee for artistic activity for children (1973), Premio Europeo (1974, 1975), Medal for lifetime achievement, Polish Section IBBY, Warsaw (2002)

Józef Wilkón made his debut as an illustrator in 1957, during a period of artistic revolution in Central Europe, which sought to break free of the restrictiveness of the communist regime. Mr. Wilkón was on the cutting edge of this movement, beginning to work with foreign presses as early as 1963, a controversial and politically bold move during the height of the cold war. Asked about illustration, Wilkón responds, "First you have to know what you are going to paint: a man or a fish or a bird or a leaf or an animal, and what it looks like. Then you must know how it moves, runs, creeps, swims or flies. For many that would be the end of their art effort, but some go ahead and paint sadness and happiness, fear and courage. Only a few reach the point at which they can paint a smell and a taste of fruits or even, silence in the dream. If you can do all these things then you must know the way to bring a story and a picture together. Everything must be done at the right place and on the right time, so the tensions in the book rises as in the theatre."
(Biographical information from Mr. Wilkón's HCA dossier, 2004; Quote from the website of the Library of the Polish Museum in Rapperswil, Switzerland)

Vera B. Williams (United States)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1927, Hollywood, California, USA
Other awards include: Caldecott Honor Book (1982, 1990), Boston Area Educators for Social Responsibility Children's Literature and Social Responsibility Award (1992), Jane Addams Peace Association Award (2001)

Vera B. Williams grew up during the Great Depression in California and then New York City. She counts her nontraditional art education, first at the Florence Cane Saturday Art Classes at Rockefeller Center, and later at Black Mountain College (where students learned the liberal arts alongside practical skills such as hauling coal and milking cows) as having had the greatest influence on her life and work, though she went on to study at what is now the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The introductory essay in her dossier paints her as one with a keen understanding of color and children, two essential aspects of illustration: "Vera B. Williams understands color. Many of her picture books are almost explosions of the spectrum. She frequently incorporates hand-created text lettering within the artwork of her books. In addition to her artistic genius, she understands the very young child. Williams creates real stories and sophisticated visual images open to multiple interpretations and universal understandings. Her books embrace and include many children, not only those born into comfort. Rather than explicitly telling her young readers that the children in her stories are safe and cherished individuals, she shows this. Her bold artistic decisions and her mastery of each medium she employs result in exceedingly original, highly acclaimed, and greatly beloved picture books."
(Ginny Moore Kruse, "Vera B. Williams: USBBY Hans Christian Andersen Illustrator Nominee: Creator of Sophisticated Artwork with Universal Appeal," in Ms. Williams's HCA dossier, 2004)

Danuta Wojciechowska (Portugal)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004 

b. 1960, Quebec, Canada
Other awards include: Special Mention - National Prize for Children's Book Illustration (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002), Selected for the "White Ravens" Catalogue (2001)

Danuta Wojciechowska has quite a varied life. Born in Canada to Swiss and Polish parents, she moved to Switzerland at 17 to study art, then on to England to study education at 23. Since 1984, she has lived in Lisbon, Portugal, and appears to be sticking there. She has illustrated for a wide variety of different media, including schoolbooks, magazines, museum documents, and even games. She has also worked for many years in musical and theatrical production, designing stage sets and costumes. In fact, she began her career as a children's book illustrator relatively late — only four years ago — but that has become her central pursuit ever since. Regarding her style, and specifically her style in Mouschi, o gato de Anne Frank ("Mouschi, Anne Frank's Cat"), University of Lisbon Fine Arts Professor Barbara Videira says, "Danuta's illustrations are in themselves challenges to more conventional perspectives and portrayals of reality. Each illustration presents various dimensions, in a dream atmosphere, telling a story, in which we are detective spectators who have to put together the pieces, with suspended objects, distorted doors and walls."
(Barbara Videira, "A New Form of Writing: The Illustrations of Danuta Wojciechowska," in Ms. Wojciechowska's HCA dossier, 2004)

Linda Wolfsgruber (Austria)
Nominee, Hans Christian Andersen Award, 2004

b. 1961, Bruneck, South Tyrol, Italy
Other awards include: Austrian Children's and Juvenile Book Award for Illustration (1995, 1999, 2000, 2002), Josef Binder Award for Illustration (1996), Golden Apple of the Biennial of Illustration (Bratislava, 1997)

Linda Wolfsgruber studied art, typesetting, and graphic design before beginning to work as a freelance graphic artist and illustrator in 1983. Now, according to her bio, "In her own printing studio in Vienna, she produces mainly coloured drypoint etchings, which are remarkable for their unusual spatial perspectives and their surprising emphasis on ordinary objects. She deliberately approaches each new book as an artistic experiment. Through workshops in schools and cultural institutions, she gives children the opportunity to take part in her creative process, thus prompting them to activate their own creative powers."
("Linda Wolfsgruber: Biographical Information," in Ms. Wolfsgruber's HCA dossier, 2004)