Elsa Beskow ( Maartman; 11February 187430June 1953) was a famous Swedish author and illustrator of

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

. Among her better known books are ''Tale of the Little Little Old Woman'' and ''Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender''.

Background

Born in Stockholm her parents were businessman Bernt Maartman (1841–1889), whose family came from

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

, Norway, and Augusta Fahlstedt (1850–1915). Beskow studied Art Education at

Konstfack Konstfack, or University of Arts, Crafts and Design, is a university college for higher education in the area of art, crafts and design in Stockholm, Sweden. History Konstfack has had several different names since it was founded in 1844 by the ...

, University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, then called ''Tekniska skolan'', or the Technical school, in Stockholm. 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 Djursholm () is one of four suburban districts in, and the seat of Danderyd Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. Djursholm is included in the multi-municipal Stockholm urban area. Djursholm is divided into a number of different areas: Djurshol ...

which had initially been built for the author

Viktor Rydberg Abraham Viktor Rydberg (; 18 December 182821 September 1895) was a Swedish writer and a member of the Swedish Academy, 1877–1895. "Primarily a classical idealist", Viktor Rydberg has been described as "Sweden's last Romantic" and by 1859 was " ...

. 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." 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. Beskow also illustrated ABC books and songbooks for Swedish schools. Her book pages are often framed by decorative framework of the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Moder ...

style. Beskow received "international recognition for simple, cheerful stories and outstanding illustrations."

Poem

Legacy

The Elsa Beskow Award was created in 1958 to recognize the year's best Swedish picture book illustrator.

Selected works

* '' Tale of the Little Little Old Woman'', 1897 * ''

Children from Solbacka A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

'', 1898 * '' Peter in Blueberry Land'', 1901 * '' Olle's ski trip'', 1907 * '' Children of the Forest'', 1910 * '' Pelle's New Suit'', 1912 * ''

Flower Festival in the Hill A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

'', 1914 * ''

George's book George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Pres ...

'', 1916 * ''

Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender An aunt is a woman who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Known alternate terms include auntie or aunty. Children in other cultures and families may refer ...

'', 1918 * ''

Little Lasse in the garden Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

'', 1920 * ''

Baby Brother's sailing journey An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

'', 1921 * ''

Bubble Muck Bubble, Bubbles or The Bubble may refer to: Common uses * Bubble (physics), a globule of one substance in another, usually gas in a liquid ** Soap bubble * Economic bubble, a situation where asset prices are much higher than underlying funda ...

'', 1921 * '' Grandma's quilt'', 1922 * '' Christopher's harvest time'', 1923 * ''

Aunt Brown's Birthday An aunt is a woman who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Known alternate terms include auntie or aunty. Children in other cultures and families may refe ...

'', 1925 * '' Jan and all his friends'', 1928 * ''

Hat Cottage A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

'', 1930 * ''

Grandma and-down Light Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetics, ge ...

'', 1930 * '' Around the year'', 1931 * '' The Sun Egg'', 1932 * '' Woody, Hazel & Little Pip'', 1939 * '' Talented Annika'', 1941 * '' Uncle Blue's New Boat'', 1942 * '' Peter and Lotta's Adventure'', 1947 * '' Red bus, green car'', 1952 Tant Grön, tant Brun och tant Gredelin

References

Bibliography

* Hammar, Stina ''Elsa Beskow'' (1958) * Håkansson, Gunvor ''Elsa Beskow och Astrid Lindgren'' (1967)' * Sjögren, Margareta ''Elsa Beskow och hennes värld'' (1983)

External links

Elsa Beskow Biography at Floris Books, her English language publisher
English

Swedish
Elsa Beskow (JulimJournals)
German * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beskow, Elsa 1874 births 1953 deaths 20th-century Swedish women artists 20th-century Swedish artists Artists from Stockholm Swedish illustrators Swedish-language writers Swedish children's writers Swedish children's book illustrators Swedish women children's writers Swedish women illustrators Konstfack alumni Art Nouveau illustrators Swedish people of Norwegian descent Members of Nya Idun