Newbery Medal (John Newbery Medal)
1 appearances
-
Edition 27 (1948) Winner
William Pène du Bois
ウィリアム・ペーヌ・デュ・ボワ
William Pène du Bois
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1916-05-08 （Nutley, New Jersey, USA）
- Died
- 1993-02-05 （Nice, France） age 76
- Nationality
- American
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Nutley, New Jersey (birth) → Versailles and Nice, France — educated in childhood and youth → United States (returned after adolescence) → Nice, France (later life)
Career
- Occupations
- writer, illustrator, editor
- Active Years
- 1936-1993
- Affiliations
- The Paris Review (art editor, 1953–1960)
- Influenced By
- Jules Verne
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lycée Hoche, Versailles | — | — | — | — | France |
| Lycée de Nice, Nice | — | — | — | — | France |
| Carnegie Technical School of Architecture (accepted) | — | — | — | — | United States |
Lycée Hoche, Versailles
Country:
France
One of his childhood educational institutions
Lycée de Nice, Nice
Country:
France
Another school attended during his time in France
Carnegie Technical School of Architecture (accepted)
Country:
United States
Accepted with scholarship but did not attend; pursued book-making instead
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Newbery Medal | The Twenty-One Balloons | — | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), American Library Association | winner |
| 1952 | Caldecott Honor | Bear Party | — | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), American Library Association | honor |
| 1957 | Caldecott Honor | Lion | — | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), American Library Association | honor |
| 1952 | Child Study Association of America (now Josette Frank Award) | Twenty and Ten (illustrator) | — | Child Study Association of America | winner |
Newbery Medal
1948
Work:
The Twenty-One Balloons
Organization:
Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), American Library Association
Result:
winner
Caldecott Honor
1952
Work:
Bear Party
Organization:
Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), American Library Association
Result:
honor
Caldecott Honor
1957
Work:
Lion
Organization:
Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), American Library Association
Result:
honor
Child Study Association of America (now Josette Frank Award)
1952
Work:
Twenty and Ten (illustrator)
Organization:
Child Study Association of America
Result:
winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The Twenty-One Balloons
1947 Children's literature / Adventure / Imaginative fictionA schoolteacher sets out to spend a year in a balloon but crashes on Krakatoa. The island is inhabited by twenty families who share the wealth of a secret diamond mine and live in elaborate houses/restaurants. When Krakatoa erupts, the families and the protagonist escape on a flying platform lofted by twenty balloons.
inventionadventurequirky humor
Bear Party
1951 Picture bookA picture book with minimal text, emphasizing playful illustrations of bears and humorous scenes.
animalshumorvisual expression
Lion
1956 Picture book / Allegorical taleAn allegory told from the viewpoint of an angel designing animals, chronicling the creation of the lion and touching on art, creativity, and finding one's place.
creativityartself-discovery
The Great Geppy
1940 Children's literature / AdventureA striped horse (not a zebra) goes undercover in a circus to investigate thefts and ultimately is honored for helping the circus financially and artistically.
adventurecircushumor
Squirrel Hotel
1952 Children's literature / Picture bookA man builds an elaborate hotel for squirrels; the illustrations show dollhouse-like details. The story has bittersweet elements as the narrator searches for the missing man.
imaginationdetailed depictiondisappearance and search
The Giant
1954 Children's literature / FantasyThe story of an eight-year-old boy who is seven stories tall. Family and friends conceal him out of fear, but the narrator devises a plan to present him to the public so he can be accepted.
otherness and acceptancegrowthcommunity
Peter Graves: An Extraordinary Adventure
1950 Children's literature / Scientific fantasyA mischievous boy Peter and a gentleman scientist Houghton Furlong who invents an antigravity material called Furloy. After an accident, Peter helps Furlong attempt to use Furloy to raise funds to rebuild a house.
inventionfriendshipadventure
Otto series (e.g. Otto in Texas, Otto in Africa, Otto And The Magic Potatoes)
1936 Children's literature / Comic adventuresA series about Otto, a giant dog, whose adventures include discovering a dinosaur skeleton in Texas and encountering various comic and fantastic situations in Africa and elsewhere.
animal charactersadventurehumor
Bibliography
- Elisabeth, the Cow Ghost (1936)
- Giant Otto & Otto at Sea (1936)
- The 3 Policemen, or, Young Bottsford of Farbe Island (1938)
- The Great Geppy (1940)
- The Flying Locomotive (1941)
- The Twenty-One Balloons (1947)
- Peter Graves: An Extraordinary Adventure (1950)
- Bear Party (1951)
- Squirrel Hotel (1952)
- The Giant (1954)
- Lion (1956)
- Castles and Dragons (1958)
- Otto in Texas (1959)
- Otto In Africa (1961)
- The Three Little Pigs (1962)
- The Alligator Case (1965)
- Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead (1966)
- Pretty Pretty Peggy Moffitt (1968)
- Porko von Popbutton (1969)
- Call Me Bandicoot (1970)
- Mother Goose for Christmas (1973)
- The Forbidden Forest (1978)
- Gentleman Bear (1985)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- playful narrationstorytelling driven by detailed illustrationsexpository style reflecting interest in inventions and mechanics
- Recurring Motifs
- invention and machinesanimals (often anthropomorphized)reversals of scale (giants, giant dogs)humor and quirky ideas
Health
-
stroke1993Died of a stroke in Nice in 1993
Legacy
William Pène du Bois was a children's author and illustrator known for inventive stories and detailed, whimsical illustrations. His Newbery-winning The Twenty-One Balloons (1948) and many other works have been read across generations. Some of his papers are held by the New York Public Library.
Archives
- New York Public Library, Humanities and Social Sciences Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division (William Pène du Bois papers)
Trivia
- His father was painter and critic Guy Pène du Bois; his mother Florence Sherman Pène du Bois worked as a children's fashion designer.
- Moved to France with his family in childhood and was educated in Versailles and Nice.
- Published his first book, Elisabeth, the Cow Ghost, in 1936.
- Served in the U.S. Army during WWII; stationed in Bermuda with an artillery unit and worked as a correspondent for Yank magazine.
- Was one of the founding editors and art editor of The Paris Review (1953–1960).
- Won the Newbery Medal in 1948 for The Twenty-One Balloons; was a Caldecott Honor recipient/runner-up in 1952 and 1957.
- Enthusiast of vintage cars; restored a 1931 Brewster Croydon Coupe (Rolls‑Royce P11).
- Came from an artistic family that included painters and theatrical designers.
- Died of a stroke in Nice, France in 1993.