2008 Hans Christian Andersen Award for illustration

Presented by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), it is the highest international distinction given to creators of children’s books. It is given every year to a living author and illustrator whose works have made a lasting contribute to children’s literature.

In honoring  Mr. Innocenti, the board noted: “The 2008 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Illustration recognizes Innocenti as a masterful illustrator who powerfully depicts various genres. His historical stories of war, specifically the Holocaust, invite young people to speculate about the serious problems of the world. He also portrays classic children’s literature from a completely different point of view. His narrative power of the images is overwhelming”.

Biography

I was born in a beautiful place, the Florentine countryside, but in hard times: it was 1940.
Due to the difficulties of the post-war years in Italy, after finishing primary and middle school I was unable to continue my studies, so I am self-taught.

I was considered good at drawing, and I enjoyed doing it, unaware that instead of a game it could also be a job.
I began working at a very early age as a cartoon animator, then as a graphic designer. A publishing house in Florence commissioned me to illustrate several books of fairy stories. I was paid next to nothing and they also secured the legal rights for the originals. I decided there was no point in carrying on under those conditions and I began working as a designer and graphic designer, devoting myself to posters – particularly of a cultural nature for the region, province and municipality – and eventually graphic design for the publishing sector.

I chose my teachers – Edelman, Glaser, Devis, Haas, Noorda – without them knowing, trying to capture their spirit and communicative power but without imitating them.
The opportunity to illustrate books presented itself again in 1982, when – on the recommendation of John Alcorn, a close friend – Etienne Delessert commissioned from me a Cinderella and promoted internationally the White Rose project, which no one in Italy was prepared to publish (1983-85).
This book immediately won me a number of awards, including the Golden Apple in Bratislava, the Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize in Essen and the Rote das Tuch in Charlottenburg.
In 1984-85 I illustrated several fairy stories for a Time Life Books series. In 1988, Jonathan Cape and Creative Education published Pinocchio, followed by A Christmas Carol by Dickens in 1990, Nutcracker by Hoffmann in 1996, The Last Resort in 2002 and Erika’s Story in 2003.

Creative Education became my official publisher and has promoted my books in at least twenty languages.

It was not until 1990 that I began to be published in Italy, when a new small publishing house called C’era una volta… published Rosa Bianca, a book that had been turned down by all the other Italian publishers. There followed a period of sporadic publications and long absences, and it was not until 2004 that I published again in Italy with La Margherita Edizioni, Milan.

My first personal exhibition was in 1990 and was entitled Le Prigioni della Storia, organised by Regione Emilia-Romagna, and was held in Bologna, Bordeaux and Geneva. This was followed by others in Gegenback and Taipei, as part of a Creative collective, and in Cedar Falls and New York.

In Italy I had another personal exhibition with L’isola delle figure in Villa Pacchiani in S. Croce sull’Arno, then again in Pistoia, in Palazzo Comunale, Bologna in 2006, in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Cagliari, in Palazzo delle Arti in Naples, and in Rome and Milan.
At the Salon du Livre in Montreuil and in Montpellier, France, I was a member of the jury for several years. I have taken part in festivals promoting children’s literature in various Italian towns and cities, including Zafferana Etnea in Sicily, and Palazzo Litta in Milan with Quantestorie.

The awards I have received include two BIB Golden Apples in Bratislava for White Rose and A Christmas Carol by Dickens; the Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize in Essen for Rosa Weiss, two Rote das Tuch awards for Rosa Weiss and Erika’s Story, the Andersen award – Il Mondo dell’Infanzia in Italy for Cinderella and Pinocchio, and the “Certificate of excellence” from the New York Times for The Last Resort in 2002.
For Erika’s Story (2004) I won the Best Illustrated Book Award from the English Association of Illustrators.
I received the Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators of New York, the Award from the children’s jury at the Geneva Book Fair, and the Totem at the Salon du Livre de Jeunesse in Montreuil , amongst others.
I also received the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2008 for illustration from IBBY International.

My latest book for forthcoming release is on the history of the 20th century, and I have begun a modern or post-modern version of the story of Little Red Riding Hood.