Joan Kiddell-Monroe (1908–1972) was a British writer and illustrator of children's books, particularly notable for her

folk-tale Oral literature, orature, or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung in contrast to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used va ...

illustrations.

Biography

Joan Kiddell-Monroe was born on August 9, 1908, in

Clacton-on-Sea Clacton-on-Sea, often simply called Clacton, is a seaside town and seaside resort, resort in the county of Essex, on the east coast of England. It is located on the Tendring Peninsula and is the largest settlement in the Tendring District, wi ...

, England. She studied at the

Chelsea School of Art Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. It offers further and higher education courses in fine art, graphic design, interior design, produ ...

and worked in advertising for a while before becoming a freelance artist. In the late 1930s she married Webster Murray, a Canadian-illustrator. Before World War II, the couple travelled in Africa; after Murray's death in 1957 she returned there with her son. She lived the later years of her life in

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

where she died in 1972.

Artwork

Joan Kiddell-Monroe is best known for her book illustrations, and was a prolific illustrator between the 1940s and 1960s. Her work often deals with animals and life overseas, particularly in Africa. She illustrated the Oxford Myths and Legends series for the

OUP Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, which includes legends and folk-tales from China,

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, the West Indies and many other places. She illustrated a number of

Patricia Lynch Patricia Lynch (4 June 1894– 1 September 1972) was an Irish children's writer and a journalist. She was the author of some 48 novels and 200 short stories. She is best known for blending Irish rural life and fantasy fiction as in ''The Turf-Cu ...

's Irish books including ''Long Ears'' and ''Orla of Burren''. Joan illustrated all six books of the

Ladybird Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles. They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in the United Kingdom; "lady" refers to mother Mary. Entomologists use the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles ...

series of ''The Adventures of Wonk'' about a

koala The koala (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), sometimes inaccurately called the koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only Extant taxon, extant representative of the Family (biology), family ''Phascolar ...

. Four of her own ''In His Little Black Waistcoat'' stories for children feature a

panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its white coat with black patches around the eyes, ears, legs and shoulders. Its body is ...

as the hero. Her work was also commissioned and/or reproduced in the

New Zealand School Journal The ''New Zealand School Journal'' is a periodical children's educational publication in New Zealand. Founded in 1907 by the Ministry of Education (New Zealand), Department of Education, it is one of the world's longest-running publications for ...

(NZ Department of Education) in the 1950s. She used various styles and media, including

scraperboard Scratchboard or scraperboard or scratch art is a form of direct engraving where the artist scratches off dark ink to reveal a white or colored layer beneath. The technique uses sharp knives and tools for engraving into the scratchboard, which is us ...

wash Wash or the Wash may refer to: Industry and sanitation * WASH or WaSH, "water, sanitation and hygiene", three related public health issues * Wash (distilling), the liquid produced by the fermentation step in the production of distilled beverages ...

and

pen and ink PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

. For her version of ''

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...

'' (Dent, 1951), she used a formal decorative treatment, while the ''

Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stor ...

'', (Blackwell, 1972) was illustrated in vivid, flat colours.

Selected works

Illustrations for works by other authors

, ''Long Ears'' (Dent, 1943) * David Severn, ''Waggon for Five'' (Bodley Head, 1944) * David Severn, ''Hermit in the Hills'' (Bodley Head, 1945) *

Pearl Buck Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 – March 6, 1973) was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for ''The Good Earth'', the best-selling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and which won her the Pulitzer Prize ...

, ''The Dragon Fish'' (Methuen, 1946) * Dorothy Martin, ''Munya the Lion'' (OUP, 1946) * David Severn, ''Forest Holiday'' (Bodley Head, 1946) * David Severn, ''Ponies and Poachers'' (Bodley Head, 1947) * David Severn, ''The Cruise of the Maiden Castle'' (Bodley Head, 1948) * Muriel Levy, ''The Adventures of Wonk - The Snowman & Kidnapped (Ladybird Book)'' (Wills & Hepworth, 1948) * Ruth W. How, ''Adventures at Friendly Farm'' (Hollis and Carter, 1948) * Sylvia Leith-Ross, ''Beyond the Niger'' (Lutterworth Press, 1951) *

Malcolm Saville Leonard Malcolm Saville (21 February 1901–30 June 1982)
Retrieved 16 July 2016 was an English writer best known for the ...

, ''All Summer Through'' (Hodder and Stoughton, 1951) * Elizabeth Coatsworth, ''The Enchanted'' (Dent, 1952) * Eileen, O'Faolain, ''Irish Sagas and Folk-Tales'' (OUP, 1954) * Mary Elwyn Patchett, ''Tam the Untamed'' (Lutterworth Press, 1955) * J. M. Scott, ''White Magic'' (Methuen, 1955) * Reginald Forbes-Watson, ''Shifta!'' (OUP, 1958) *H. W. Longfellow, ''The Song of Hiawatha'' (J. M. Dent and Sons, 1960) * Eugenie Fenton, ''Sher, Lord of the Jungle'' (Benn, 1962) * Frederick Grice, ''The Moving Finger'' (OUP, 1962) * Ivan Southall, ''The Sword of Essau'' (Angus and Robertson, 1967) * Ivan Southall, ''The Curse of Cain'' (Angus and Robertson, 1968) * Rene Guillot, ''Grishka and the Bear'' (OUP, 1970) * Lorna Wood, ''Hags by Starlight'' (Dent, 1970)

Written and illustrated by Joan Kiddell-Monroe

* ''The Irresponsible Goat'' (Methuen, 1948) * ''In his Little Black Waistcoat to India'' (Longmans, 1948)

References

External links

Wee Web Profile

Forgotten Illustrator: Joan Kiddell-Monroe
with images of many illustrations (retrieved 1 January 2014)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiddell-Monroe, Joan 1908 births 1972 deaths British children's book illustrators British women children's book illustrators Illustrators of fairy tales 20th-century British illustrators People from Clacton-on-Sea British fantasy artists