William Earl Johns, British children’s author, b. 1893. Has anyone ever heard of a series of children’s books about a character named Biggles? I never have, but apparently they were very popular in England and around the world in the 1940’s and 1950’s.

“By 1964, the UNESCO Statistical Yearbook placed Biggles books 29th on a list of the most translated books in the world and Biggles was the most popular juvenile hero in the world. However, sales in North America were low and Johns never really cracked the American market. The books were considered just ‘too British’.” From the website biggles.org

I guess that’s why I’ve never heard of the books. They look cute, don’t they? The covers kind of remind me of TinTin, a series my urchins have been re-visiting in the past few days.

David Wiesner, b. 1957, children’s author and illustrator, also has a birthday today. He’s 50 years old today (and I know that for a very good, non-mathematical, reason). As an early birthday present Mr. Wiesner won the Caldecott Medal for the third time in January 2007 for his pcture book, Flotsam. He’s the second person to win three Caldecott Medals. Does anyone know who the other author/illustator who won three Caldecott Medals was? Can you name her three Caldecott medal-winning books? Can you name Mr. Wiesner’s other two winners?

(This is a test of the Emergency Caldecott System. Had this been an actual emergency, you would have been directed to your nearest children’s librarian.)