Tomi Ungerer
Books / Children’s Books
Tomi Ungerer has published over 40 books for children, many of which are now considered modern classics. He is one of the world's best-loved children's book artists and authors and is widely considered a pioneer in the sphere of Children's Literature.
Harper and Row published Tomi’s first children’s book, The Mellops Go Flying, in 1957. It was an immediate and award-winning success. Since then, he has published over 40 Children’s books including classics such as The Three Robbers,Moonman and Crictor. In 1998, he was awarded the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Prize for children’s literature. In 2013, his latest children’s book, Fog Island was rated as one of the Top 10 Children’s Books of that year by the New York Times.
Tomi’s stories and illustrations for children are injected with generous helpings of the absurd, his books are brim-full of creativity, irreverence and humour. He never shied away from challenging vocabulary or topics that have been traditionally considered out of bounds within the genre. Sometimes referred to as the Bad Boy of Children’s Books, Tomi respected children’s intelligence and never attempted to sugar-coat reality.
“Books last, advertising and magazines are ephemeral. I started with children’s books thanks to my editor Ursula Nordstrom at Harpers whom I shared with Maurice Sendak. She supported all my budding efforts and gave me my first publishing deal. My first book, The Mellops Go Flying, won a prize, and so did Crictor, the story of a snake. From then on, I published an average of two to three children’s books a year.
What drove me into children’s book literature? I would say to conceive tales that I myself would have liked as a child. The child in me, call it arrested development, has been present, lingering throughout my career. An element of innocence, providing wonderment and discovery is like a thread running through what I do and stitching it all together. Many of my first children’s books were aimed at rehabilitating disreputable animals such as a snake, bat, octopus, vulture, and rats, or stereotypically unsavoury characters like an ogre, robbers or a street urchin. I think it is crucial to show children that no matter what one’s flaws are, there is always a way to survive and win by being different and making the best out of what one has. I want to show children that everyone is different but equally unique.
One important element is that the children in my books are always fearless. I was brought up that way by my mother. Nothing could phase her and humour always took the upper hand. Winking her eye for example, she said with a snigger before a confrontation with the Gestapo, “You’ll see, they are all morons!”
If all these books still thrive, now translated into over 40 languages, it is most likely because at the time they broke all the rules applied to children’s books peopled with cushy teddy bears in an illusory world where everyone is nice, happy and stupid. My later children’s books became more precisely aimed at specific targets: Making Friends – the story of a black boy in a white neighbourhood is about integration, Otto – the story of a teddy owned by a Jewish boy who is arrested with his parents by the Gestapo is about war and friendship, Flix – a story about cats and dogs learning to live in peace together is about tolerance.
I think the best children’s books are both written and illustrated by the same author. A sample of my favourites includes: Strumelpeter, Max and Moritz, Where the Wild Things Are and Edward Lear’s Nonsense Stories.”
– Tomi
Tomi’s books often incorporate elements of fear, his protagonists are never scared! This is one of the things that have made his books iconic. His books for children include stories that confront difference (eg. Flix), racism (Making Friends) and war (Otto). Books about animals who are usually disliked such as Crictor, a book about a snake, and Rufus, a book about a bat, highlight individuality and give the young reader the sense that everyone has something to offer that is unique to them.
Flix
Flix is about a young pug dog being brought up in Cat Town by cat parents.
The Three Robbers
The Three Robbers tells the story of three fierce, black-clad robbers who terrorize and plunder the countryside, armed with a blunderbuss, a pepper blower, and a huge red axe…
Moon Man
Moon Man is a beautiful and timeless children’s classic.
Otto
This childrens classic is told first-hand by Otto, a German-born teddy bear who is separated from his Jewish owner, lives through World War II, and is reunited with his original owner 50 years later.