The 1978 children's story "The Trip to Panama" brought German illustrator and writer Janosch fame. Today, he turns 90.
Horst Eckert goes by the alias JanoschImage: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Weihrauch
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Children's book author Janosch at 90
Tales about little tigers, bears, ducks and frogs have made Janosch popular around the world. The German children's book author celebrates his 90th birthday.
Image: Imago/H. Galuschka
The Tiger Duck is 'rubbish'...
... Janosch once said of the little yellow and black striped toy duck on wheels, beloved by children all over the world. The artist doesn't even own a Tiger Duck. He says he simply doesn't need one.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Carstensen
Best pals
More than 300 Janosch books have been published in 40 languages. A series of films feature the most popular characters — Little Tiger, Little Bear and their Tiger Duck — and many kids have cuddly stuffed animal versions of their favorite picture book heroes. The Filmpark Babelsberg theme park in Potsdam also has a Panamaland, featuring the trio.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Settnik
Onscreen adventures
"If you have a friend who can find mushrooms, you don't have to be afraid of anything, do you, Tiger?" Little Bear asks his best pal in one of the writer's most popular books, "The Trip to Panama." Janosch's tale about two best friends who decide to go to Panama to find the land of their dreams was made into a film several times (above, a scene from the 2006 movie).
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Warner
Best friends and a simple life
"The Trip to Panama" made Janosch world-famous when it was published in the late 1970s. In the story, Little Tiger and his friend Little Bear end up finding the land of their dreams right on their own doorstep. The two characters are part of many Janosch stories: tales that always revolve around lasting friendship and enjoying the simple things in life.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/R. Weihrauch
Rough childhood
Janosch illustrates picture books, but he also paints on a larger scale. The above work for an exhibition at the Ludwig Museum Koblenz is entitled "Using the power of thought, my father lures a blue bird into a trap." It was based on an unhappy memory: When he was drunk, Janosch's birdcatcher father regularly beat him.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Frey
Janosch and women
Here's Janosch holding "My wife with curls." Asked why the women he paints are usually quite ugly, he once said perhaps that's because he doesn't like women — except his wife Ines "who is intelligent." His grandmother also regularly beat him as a child. Proceeds from the sale of the above artwork went to a children's charity.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Thissen
All-time classics
A witty homage to the children's book author: Janosch's best stories, poems and illustrations were compiled under the title: "Perhaps everything I say is nonsense."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/W. Langenstrassen
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When Little Tiger is lying in the hospital, he longs for "trout with almonds," just like Little Bear cooks for him at home. And when Little Tiger and Little Bear strike out for Panama, following the smell of bananas, they eventually end up back in their small, cozy home. What's to be learned from all this? Perhaps that it's always best at home.
For children's book author and illustrator Horst Eckert, aka Janosch, home is Tenerife, the largest of Spain's Canary Islands. He's lived there for more than 30 years with his wife Ines. His 1978 children's story, The Trip to Panama, brought him fame and fortune.
What he likes best, says Janosch, is to lounge in his hammock doing nothing at all. But even at 90, he isn't really idle. The author writes for Die Zeit magazine supplement, and he's also working on a new children's book.
More than 12 million copies of his books have been sold around the worldImage: DW/G. Reucher
'Lack of talent'
Born on March 11, 1931 in the town of Hindenburg (today the Polish town Zabrze) in what was then Upper Silesia, he and his family fled to West Germany after World War II. Janosch studied art in Munich only to be discharged after a few semesters for "a lack of talent."
That early setback didn't deter him, however. Janosch worked as a freelance artist and soon discovered that he also had a knack for writing stories. His first children's book, Die Geschichte von Valek dem Pferd (The Story of Valek the Horse), was published in 1960.
He is best known, however, for his touching 1978 tale of two friends who set off to find the land of their dreams in Panama. The Trip to Panama won him the German Children's Literature Award in 1979.
Worldwide phenomenon
Janosch's work is extensive — he has written and illustrated more than 300 books, which have been translated into 40 languages. Children and adults alike enjoy his lovingly drawn watercolors, and the warm-hearted, simple humor. His characters — Little Bear, Little Tiger, Tiger Duck and the rest — do silly things, sometimes even lying or looking out for their own interests, but in the end friendship always wins.
The series has also been adapted into several films, including this 2006 versionImage: picture-alliance/dpa/Warner
"That's always what I'm after, since it was lacking in my own family," he once told his biographer Angela Bajorek. Janosch had an unhappy childhood: his father was an alcoholic and regularly beat him — as did his grandmother, a strict Catholic who threatened him with God's wrath.
The characters from Janosch's stories — above all the Tiger Duck on wheels — have given him cult status around the world, and can be found on countless mugs, plates, pillows, sheets and towels. The stories have been made into movies and of course sold in the form of picture books by the million worldwide.
