Anita Lobel (née Kempler; born June 2, 1934) is a Polish-American illustrator of children's books, including On Market Street, written by her husband Arnold Lobel and a Caldecott Honor Book for illustration, A New Coat for Anna, Alison's Zinnia, and This Quiet Lady. One Lighthouse, One Moon, one of three books she created about her cat, Nini, is a New York Times Best Illustrated Book. Her childhood memoir, No Pretty Pictures, was a finalist for the National Book Award.[1]
Biography
She was born in Kraków, Poland, to a merchant family. When she was five years old, World War II began and she, her brother and their nanny, whom they called Niania, were forced into hiding for the next four and a half years, first in the countryside, then in a ghetto, and finally in a convent, where the Nazis caught them.[2] She and her brother were then sent to a concentration camp in Germany.[3] They were rescued in 1945 by the Swedish Red Cross and reunited with their parents in 1947. Though she could read and write, Lobel did not begin school until age 13. In 1952, her family moved from Sweden to New York City where she graduated from Washington Irving High School and earned a B.F.A. in fine arts from Pratt Institute. While taking part in a school play at Pratt, she met her future husband, Arnold Lobel, who was the play's director.
After graduation, she worked for several years as a textile designer until Susan Hirschman asked her to make a book. Published in 1965, Sven's Bridge was the first book she wrote and illustrated. The illustrations include examples of Swedish folk designs from the author's childhood. Her third book, Potatoes, Potatoes, is based partly on her childhood in Poland, and her fourth book, The Troll Music, "was mainly inspired by the bottom parts of medieval tapestries with all the vegetation and little animals running around."
For many years, she worked with her husband, writer-illustrator Arnold Lobel. They had two children – daughter Adrianne and son Adam – and three grandchildren. Their first and second collaborations were How the Rooster Saved the Day and A Treeful of Pigs. She received a Caldecott Honor in 1982 for another, On Market Street.
After her husband's death in 1987, she went on to write and illustrate Alison's Zinnia and Away from Home, a companion piece focusing on boys rather than girls. In 1998, she produced No Pretty Pictures, which is a memoir of her childhood. The story begins in 1939, when she was five years old, and continues through 1947, when she and her brother were reunited with their parents. After that, she illustrated a counting book, One Lighthouse, One Moon. Throughout this time, she has illustrated works of other authors, including Charlotte S. Huck and Kevin Henkes.
Two picture books created by Arnold and Anita Lobel were Boston Globe–Horn Book Award runners-up (one of three Honor Books in each case): On Market Street in 1981 and The Rose in My Garden in 1984.[4]On Market Street was also a finalist for the Caldecott Medal (children's picture book illustration, Anita Lobel) and National Book Award (hardcover picture books, both authors).[citation needed]
Anita Lobel has received three Best Illustrated Book selections from The New York Times Book Review, in 1965 for Sven's Bridge, in 1981 for On Market Street, and in 2000 for One Lighthouse, One Moon. How the Rooster Saved the Day is a New York Times Outstanding Book selection for 1977.
Published books
As writer only
No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War (Greenwillow Books, 1998; ISBN0688159354) – "The author, known as an illustrator of children's books, describes her experiences as a Polish Jew during World War II and for years in Sweden afterwards.", OCLC38061586
As illustrator
Sven's Bridge, 1965.
Cock-a-Doodle Doo! Cock-a-Doodle Dandy!: A New Songbook for the Newest Singers (1966), Paul Kapp – "for piano, with words and added chord symbols", OCLC1409658
