Hi there! I have worked in bookstores for 19 years, and in these 19 years, after 5 years of children's book practice research and 3 years of picture book story club activities. In my mind, there is a huge database of children's books, there are many, many children's faces reading, and there are many, many parents' memories of children's reading exchanges. Now, I would like to share my child's reading path with more of you who are groping on this path.
Today, I would like to recommend to you a picture book master whom I admire very, very much, Leo. Leoni.
Many, many years ago, on a speeding train, Leo, who had recently retired. Leoni, with his two grandchildren, was in this train. The children thought the train trip was too boring and kept clamoring for Leo. Leoni played with them. The old man, who was quarreled by the two children, had no choice but to tear up two paper balls, one yellow and one blue. Tell the child a story:
There is a little friend whose name is Little Blue. It lives with its mom and dad. Across the street, there is also its good friend Xiao Huang's family. One day, Xiaolan's mother went out, and before going out, she told Xiaolan that you were obediently at home waiting for her mother to come back. However, after the boring little blue went out, it went out to find Xiao Huang to play.
Seeing his good friend, Xiao Lan and Xiao Huang hugged happily. Oh, something magical happened! Hugs, hugs, they both turn green! They played together for a long time before going home.
Little Blue came home, and Mom and Dad said, You are not our Little Blue, you are green. The same is true of Xiao Huang.
The sad little blue and little yellow cried and cried, cried and cried, until they all turned into tears. Finally, the two of them changed back to their original colors! Papa Blue and Mama Blue happily told Daddy Huang the secret, and they happily hugged each other and all turned green.
This story not only attracted his grandchildren, but also attracted the attention of many children in the carriage. This is the famous "Little Blue and Little Yellow", Leo. Leoni's first picture book. This is also his first experience of creating picture books.
Then one day, I met a friend, Leo. Leoni and his friends talked about it. A friend who is doing publishing and heard the story suggested Leo. Leoni can try to create picture books.
And so, The encouraged Leo. Leoni, at the age of 50, began to embark on a journey of picture book creation.
His masterpieces "One Inch Worm", "Little Blackfish", "Aver the Vole", and "Alexander and the Clockwork Mouse" won four American Caldecott Awards in 1961, 1964, 1968 and 1970.
Let's take a look at Leo. Leoni's first half of his life:
Leoni was a talented, unfettered artistic genius, painting, sculpture, graphic design, printing, pottery, photography... Proficient in everything, he was the design director of Fortune magazine for 10 years. During this time, he held many solo exhibitions and design exhibitions in Europe and the United States, and served as president of the American Graphic Arts Society and president of the 1953 International Design Congress. He was awarded the Graphic Arts Association of America Award for Best Art Direction in Advertising Production in 1955 and the Architectural Alliance Gold Medal in 1956.
Let's take another look at Leo. Leoni's second half of life:
When he received the American Society of Graphic Arts Award in 1984, he was praised for influencing at least three generations through his artistic creations, design creations, leadership and talent development in the field of design, and the creation of picture books for children. Humanism and rationalism run through his work from beginning to end.
Leo. Leoni, a very temperamental artist
On October 11, 1999, the master picture book master, known as the "magician of color", died in Italy at the age of 89.
His work has been hailed as "Aesop's Fable in Picture Books". It has always affected countless people. Countless people are fascinated by it.
Around 2010, Vivian, a prominent Preschool Educator in the United States, wrote a book, "A Year of Reading Picture Books Together." She is a kindergarten teacher with many years of practical experience in education.
In this book, she shares with us how, led by a five-year-old girl, with a class of children, for a whole year, in Leo. Leoni explores, seeks knowledge, and finds his own answers in the world of picture books. And Vivian, as the teacher of this class, what she did was to give the baton to the child, and she assisted or pushed. "Education is not about filling a bucket of water, it's about lighting a fire." Looking at Vivian's "A Year of Reading Picture Books Together", this sentence popped into my heart.
There are also many elderly people around us who have retired. Looking at many elderly people in China, after a lifetime of hard work, what is life like after retirement?
A lot of people are helping younger generations with their children. This may be a helpless choice. Who calls children need it?
There are also those who are rehired after retirement. But this is one of the few people who have made a reality in their own area of expertise.
There are also people who are finally free to choose the way they want to live.
There are also people who choose to continue their studies, enrich themselves, and learn new knowledge. In my city of Zhuhai, there is a university for the elderly. There are quite a few professions. For example, photography, computer operation, etc.
And I admire Leo. Leoni's reason is also admiration for this spirit of living to be old, learning to be old, and creating to be old. In his career before his retirement, his scope of work, even if it was mainly in the field of art, was completely incompatible with picture books.
But he had the courage to start working on picture books after retirement that had never been touched upon before.
I admire this courage. And this kind of retirement only began to create picture books, and also won four times the most authoritative international picture book award, this kind of ability, let me sigh even more, cattle people are cattle people, even if retired, or cattle people.
From Leo. In Leoni's body, I saw the phrase "life has infinite possibilities, never set limits for yourself."
On the topic of picture book masters, I introduced nine picture book masters to you, and it is rare to spend the whole time to introduce one person to you like this. But Leo. Leoni's story, I think, is very worth sharing with you.
Next, I will introduce you to Leo in detail. Mr. Leoni's work.
Happy reading! Share the dry knowledge of children's books with you, help you solve the confusion of choosing books for children, please pay attention to me, and hope that you can leave valuable comments, thank you!