British children’s books, Polish illustrator: Pieńkowski

The bestselling Meg and Mog stories, first published in the 1970s and still a mainstay of British children’s literature today, were illustrated by Polish born Jan Pieńkowski. Pieńkowski came to live the UK in 1946 settling in Herefordshire. Design appears to have been in Pieńkowski’s blood as he comes from a family of artists and architects, and he showed a talent for poster and stage design when reading Classics and English at Cambridge. This inspirational Polish migrant helped pioneer the modern children’s pop-up book and will be remembered for his cult illustrations in the fantastically titled classic Meg’s Eggs (witches and dinosaurs, what more can a child want?!). I enjoyed Pieńkowski’s fabulous stories as a child and my son now reads them again, and again and again today. To find out more about Pieńkowski’s work visit the Jan Pieńkowski website: http://www.janpienkowski.com/home.htm where you can download a selection of his books and play some Meg and Mog themed games.