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"Stories, story writers and illustrators"

Stories known as "Libros muñeco"

Shelf dedicated to women writers Celia Fortun, Merce Llimona or Lola Anglada

Shelf dedicated to Cucut, to "Homes d'En Patufet" and to Massagran

Shelf dedicated to Walt Disney

STORIES, STORYTELLERS AND ILLUSTRATORS

Stories were traditionally passed on orally, but as a result of early nineteenth-century printing, they took on a life of their own thanks to the inclusion of illustrations, and with the start of children’s schooling, they became used as a teaching aid: despite being considered inferior, this literary genre helped bring children closer to the world of learning through fantasy and image.

 

During the course of its life, children’s literature has had its ups and downs due to every country’s political-economic circumstances, but in recent years it has experienced considerable growth in the number of publishers and in the expansion of children’s sections in public libraries, while also enjoying a strong impact through storytelling and campaigns with child-focused programmes, such as “Born to read”.

 

The word tale includes a number of short stories in different styles: fantasy, folklore and traditional, adventure and travel, moral, religious, educational, etc., published with simple materials or presented in line with the illustrator’s imagination and purchasing power of the customer, such as game-books, toy-books, stories with moving or folding pages, pop-ups, embossed books or miniatures.

 

The display at the Peralada Castle Library celebrates all those who have played a part in the history of children’s literature: the compilers, the authors, the illustrators, the printers and the publishers.

 

The collection begins with a selection of fables by Aesop, Iriarte, Samaniego and La Fontaine, compilations of anonymous oriental tales, such as “The Thousand and One Nights”, which so greatly influenced the work of Hans Christian Andersen, small-format works to be used for teaching and anthologies of tales by writers such as Terenci Thos i Codina, Joan Amades and Ramon Menéndez Pidal.

 

Versions by great story writers, such as Charles Perrault, considered to be the father of children’s literature; the Brothers Grimm, compilers of traditional tales; Hans Christian Andersen, compiler and author, and great illustrators, such as Rackham, Walt Disney, Pinchon, Hergé (the pen-name of Georges Rémi and creator of Tintin), Bartolozzi (who introduced Pinocchio to Spain), and Penagos, assiduous collaborator with the publisher Calleja.

 

Examples of women as illustrators and storytellers are represented by the well-known Comtesse de Ségur (Sophie Rostopchine) who began working in the genre as a grandmother; Elena Fortún (pen-name of Encarnación Aragoneses) creator of the character of Celia and her family circle comprising Cuchifritín and Matonkiki; Lola Anglada; Maria Claret; Mercè Llimona; Pili Blasco; Elvira Elias; Leonor del Corral and Mary Greenwalt, to name but a few. It also reflects the important work of publishers, such as Maucci, Juventud, Araluce, Sopena, Maravilla and Molino. Special mention should go to Calleja for their amazing collaboration in publishing tales and their popularisation.

 

We are also highlighting Catalan illustrators associated with El Patufet: Joan Llaverias, Gaietà Cornet, Joan García-Junceda, Clovis Eimeric (pen-name of Lluís Almerich), the Folch i Torres brothers, and Ramon Folch i Camarasa. We’ll also get the chance to meet heroes and heroines such as Don Quixote de la Mancha, Becassine, the young Breton housemaid, Tintin, Massagran, Patufet, the Little Prince, Celia, Mickey, Dumbo, and the Three Little Pigs.

 

The welfare state, new teaching methods and new technology have meant that we have invested more resources in children’s literature than in previous decades. We hope that some of these will survive the passage of time and be preserved for future generations.