Kurt Wiese facts for kids
Kurt Wiese (born April 22, 1887, died May 27, 1974) was a talented artist from Germany. He became famous for drawing pictures in books. Kurt Wiese created the art for 20 of his own children's books. He also drew pictures for about 300 books written by other authors!
Contents
About Kurt Wiese
Kurt Wiese was born in Minden, Germany. From a young age, he dreamed of becoming an artist. However, people around him didn't think it was a good idea.
An Unexpected Journey
When he was young, Kurt Wiese lived in China for six years. He worked there selling different goods. When World War I started, he was captured by the Japanese. They then handed him over to the British.
Kurt Wiese spent five years as a prisoner. Most of this time was spent in Australia. While there, he became very interested in the amazing animals he saw. This fascination inspired him to start drawing again. After the war ended, he was set free. Wiese went back to Germany, but the country's economy was very bad. Because of this, he decided to move to Brazil.
A New Start in America
Kurt Wiese began his career as an illustrator in Brazil. In 1927, he moved to the United States. His first big success came in 1929. He drew the pictures for Felix Salten's famous book, Bambi. In 1930, he married Gertrude Hansen. They lived together on a farm in Kingwood Township, New Jersey. He also worked with a master printer named Theodore Cuno to create some of his art.
Awards and Honors
Kurt Wiese received several important awards for his illustrations:
- He won a Caldecott Honor Book Award in 1946 for his book You Can Write Chinese.
- He received another Caldecott Honor Book Award in 1948 for Fish in the Air.
- He was the illustrator for the Newbery Award winning book Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze.
- His illustrations also appeared in Newbery Honor books like Honk the Moose, Li Lun, Lad of Courage, and Daughter of the Mountains.
Famous Books He Illustrated
Freddy the Pig Series
Kurt Wiese drew the pictures for most of the popular "Freddy the Pig" books. These books were written by Walter R. Brooks. There were 26 books in the series, published between 1927 and 1958.
The very first book, To and Again, was illustrated by someone else. But the second book, More To and Again, had Kurt Wiese's drawings. These first two books were later renamed Freddy Goes to Florida and Freddy Goes to the North Pole. Kurt Wiese even added new pictures to the first book when it was re-released. He continued to illustrate many more "Freddy" adventures, including Freddy the Detective (1932).
Other Well-Known Works
Kurt Wiese illustrated many other beloved books. Here are some of them:
- Bambi, A Life in the Woods (1929) by Felix Salten
- The Hound of Florence (1930) by Felix Salten
- Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze (1932) by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis
- The Story about Ping (1933) by Marjorie Flack
- Honk, the Moose (1935) by Phil Stong
- The Five Chinese Brothers (1938) by Claire Huchet Bishop
- You Can Write Chinese (1945), a picture book he created himself
- Li Lun, Lad of Courage (1947) by Carolyn Treffinger
- Fish in the Air (1948), another picture book he created
- The Fables of Aesop (1950), a collection of classic stories
- All about Volcanoes and Earthquakes (1953) by Frederick H. Pough
- Twenty-two Bears (1964) by Claire Huchet Bishop
