Elsa Beskow

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Elsa Beskow (Template:Nee Maartman; 11Template:NbspFebruary 1874Template:Snd30Template:NbspJune 1953) was a famous Swedish author and illustrator of children's books. Among her better known books are Tale of the Little Little Old Woman and Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender.<ref>Hammar, Stina Solägget: fantasi och verklighet Elsa Beskows konst (Bonnier, Stockholm 2002) Template:ISBN</ref>

Background

Born in Stockholm her parents were businessman Bernt Maartman (1841–1889), whose family came from Bergen, Norway, and Augusta Fahlstedt (1850–1915). Beskow studied Art Education at Konstfack, University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, then called Tekniska skolan, or the Technical school, in Stockholm.<ref>Björkman, Ivar; Djursholm – staden på landet (Djursholms Forntid och Framtid, 1982) ISBN /91-85549-00-2</ref>

She married former minister and social worker, doctor of theology Natanael Beskow in 1897. Elsa Beskow met her future husband at Djursholms samskola while serving as a teacher where he served as head master. From 1900 they lived in Villa Ekeliden in Djursholm which had initially been built for the author Viktor Rydberg. They had six sons, including the artist Bo Beskow (1906–1989) and geologist Gunnar Beskow (1901–1991).

Career

In 1894 Beskow started to contribute to the children's magazine Jultomten. She ultimately began publishing her own books, doing both illustration and text. Overall, she would publish some forty books with her own text and images.

Beskow frequently combined reality with elements from the fairy tale world. Children meet elves or goblins, and farm animals talk with people. Central themes were the relationships between children and adults and children's independent initiative. Her work "depicted a happy home atmosphere in the Swedish countryside of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."<ref name="credoref">Template:Cite web</ref>

Beskow became one of the most well known of all Swedish children's book artists. Many of her books became classics and are continually reprinted.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Beskow also illustrated ABC books and songbooks for Swedish schools. Her book pages are often framed by decorative framework of the Art Nouveau style.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Beskow received "international recognition for simple, cheerful stories and outstanding illustrations."<ref name="credoref" />

Poem

File:Elsa Beskow - Sov du lilla videung, än så är det vinter... - Google Art Project.jpg

Poem Illustrated by Elsa Beskow about trees in winter (early 1900s, Nationalmuseum Stockholm.)

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Legacy

The Elsa Beskow Award was created in 1958 to recognize the year's best Swedish picture book illustrator.<ref name="Silvey1995">Template:Cite book</ref>