After leaving university, together they founded the Gallery Five greeting cards company. [1] He began illustrating children's books in spare time but soon found it taking all his time. After leaving university Pieńkowski founded the Gallery Five greeting cards company. He began illustrating children's books in his spare time, but soon found the work taking over all his time. He began working with children's author Joan Aiken in 1968; he later won the first of two Kate Greenaway Medals in 1972 for his illustrations for Aiken's The Kingdom Under the Sea. IBBY Announces Winners of 2008 Hans Christian Andersen Awards". International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). Press release 31 March 2008. At the age of 10, he could not speak any English. However, a year later he passed his Eleven-Plus exam and attended the Cardinal Vaughan School in London and later read English Classics at King's College, Cambridge. [1] It was here that he met his friend, and later agent, Angela Holder, who persuaded him to turn one of his poster designs into a greetings card. [1]

Haunted House by Jan Pienkowski - AbeBooks Haunted House by Jan Pienkowski - AbeBooks

This is it. The Holy grail of spooky picture books to creep out and delight children all over the world. I borrowed this book so many times from the library when I was a child. It was the first time I saw a pop-up book and it’s combination of humor, scares and ingeniously designed pop-up features kept me entertained every time I opened the book. Pieńkowski illustrated his first book at the age of eight, as a present for his father. During World War II, Pieńkowski's family moved about Europe, finally settling in Herefordshire, England in 1946. He attended the Cardinal Vaughan School in London, and later read English and Classics at King's College, Cambridge. Where Ghostorama carries, at best, a sentence or two that prompts the readers imagination to spark, Spooky House of Horror caries no such textual prompts but instead lets its superb pop-up action and illustrations spark stories in its “readers” heads. Haunted House ( Heinemann, 1979) earned Pieńkowski his second Greenaway Medal (no one has won three). [9] The librarians describe it as "the house of petrifying pop-ups". [9] The pop-up book was so successful that Intervisual Books Inc. reproduced the book as part of its 1992 Annual Report. The report noted "Haunted House was first published in 1979, and has sold 1,083,366 copies, in 13 languages, to nearly 30 countries worldwide." [10]

In 2019, Pienkowski was awarded the Booktrust's Lifetime Achievement Award. [12] Personal life and death [ edit ] a b c "Jan Pienkowski". Broadcast episode recording (45 minutes). Desert Island Discs, Sunday, 18 October 2009. BBC Radio4. Retrieved 1 December 2012. Jan Pienkowski". Broadcast episode notes (recording not available). Private Passions, Sunday 14 December 2008, 12:00 (one hour). BBC Radio3. Retrieved 1 December 2012. He died from complications of dementia on 19 February 2022, at the age of 85. [14] [15] The Booker Prize trophy [ edit ]

Silly Haunted House: A Not-Too-Spooky Pop-Up Book Silly Haunted House: A Not-Too-Spooky Pop-Up Book

Along with The Great Green Mouse Disaster, this was one of the few books that I would hunt down in my local library as a child. I am sure it is synonymous to almost every child's reading history from the 80s (it was published in 1979) and has, fortunately, recently been reprinted. In October 2009, Pieńkowski was a guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. During the programme he discussed his childhood spent roaming Europe, his dead infant sister, his bipolarity and his collection of discarded garments (which he would wear himself or give away to charity shops). [6]He also talked about his 40-year relationship with his collaborator and civil partner, David Walser, whom he met in a pub on the King's Road in West London. They contracted their partnership in Richmond on the first day this was possible in 2005. [6]