Leo Lionni

Leo Lionni began writing children’s books in 1959, when he himself was already a grandfather. Little Blue and Little Yellow, a runaway success, was the first of more than 30 other children’s books, including Inch by Inch, Swimmy, Frederick, and Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse. The first two titles were cited by the New York Times as among the ten best picture books of 1959 and 1960, respectively. He ultimately became a Caldecott Honor artist.

Born in Amsterdam in 1910, he spent his childhood learning how to draw at the nearby Rijksmuseum. A self-taught artist, he settled in the United States in 1939. His prestigious career in the arts culminated at Fortune magazine where he was art director from 1949 to 1962. During that time, while showing his own work at art galleries internationally, he also headed the graphic design department at the Parsons School of Design from 1951 to 1954.

Mr. Lionni died at the age of 89 at his home in Siena, Italy.
 


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