Eva Hildegard Maria Billow née Forss (1902–1993) was an influential Swedish illustrator,

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

and

children's writer Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

. She is remembered for writing and illustrating rhyming Swedish

children's stories A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

, including ''Pojkarna Igelkotts vinterskor'' (1948) and ''Nickes lediga dag'' (1950). They depict everyday life in a playful, humorous style, often with animals as the principal characters. Her poetry collections are inspired by children in the home environment, sometimes depicted as animals, sometimes as human beings.

Biography

Born on 2 May 1902 in Övre Ullered,

Värmland Värmland () is a ''Provinces of Sweden, landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Name Several Latinized version ...

, in west central Sweden, Eva Hildegard Maria Forss was the youngest child of the factory owner and agronomist, Johan Albin Forss and Gerda Ingeborg Tereseia née Kjellmark. After completing her school education, she attended the

Technical School A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocationa ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

where she trained as a drawing instructor and advertising artist. She remained at the school teaching

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

from 1925 to 1968. In parallel, in 1925 she became an illustrator for ''Svenska Journalen'', creating the children's series ''Kajsa och Snurran'' with rhyming text, published in book form in 1929. She became particularly productive and creative from the late 1940s, initially with ''Pojkarna Igelkotts vinterskor'', a picture book for small children about a family of hedgehogs with other characters as animals, birds and insects. Her playful rhyming children's stories about everyday life continued in ''När John Blund försov sig'' (1949), and ''Nickes lediga dag'' (1950). Her poetry was published in ''Godmorgon och godnatt'' (1951). In 1949, she illustrated

Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil i Lönneberga, Emil of Lönneberga, ...

's short story series ''Nils Karlsson-Pyssling''. Thanks to her innovative styles, Svensk Bokkonst selected her works as Årets utvalda böcker (books of the year) in 1946, 1948, 1949 and 1950. Eva Billow died in

on 22 February 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Billow, Eva 1902 births 1993 deaths People from Forshaga Municipality 20th-century Swedish writers 20th-century Swedish women writers 20th-century Swedish artists Swedish children's book illustrators Swedish women children's book illustrators Swedish children's writers Swedish women children's writers 20th-century Swedish poets Swedish women poets

Biography

Further reading

References