Press Release 3 / 2004-2006

Max Velthuijs has left us

 

26 January 2005 / M.C. Posada

With sadness in our hearts, we have to announce that Max Velthuijs, Andersen Award Illustrator Winner 2004, passed away on 25 January 2005, at home in the Netherlands.

Well known all over the world, his books are among those that every child treasures and every adult remembers with nostalgia.

Born in 1923, Velthuijs studied painting and graphic design at the Academie voor beeldednde Kusten in Arnhem. After World War II, he produced political prints and received commissions for posters, postage stamps, book jackets, animation films, advertisements and television commercials. His career as an illustrator and writer of children’s books took off in 1962 when, attracted by his powerful and fresh drawings, Swiss publishers Nord-Süd Verlag asked him to make a picture book.

Velthuijs characters are familiar to children, especially Frog, or Kikker as he is known at home, and his friends. These picture books are a delight to read to small children, since the clear, bright illustrations make them laugh and the simple, but profound, dialogues allows them to follow the story even when deep issues are faced: death, fear, love, tolerance.

Max Velthuijs belongs to the category of great artists. He has left a perennial legacy of joy and sensitivity. IBBY presented him with the Hans Christian Andersen Illustrator Award 2004. We like to think he was pleased, as he said in his acceptance speech:

“… when I hear from parents and children how much they love Frog and his friends, I am overcome with joy and a feeling of accomplishment.

And when you ask me how I did it, I have to answer that question with a simple ‘I do not know’.

I can only say that I did my utmost best and that I tried to convey my feelings in an honest way. Because that is what this is all about.”

We feel proud to have him among our Andersen laureates.