Beloved children’s author Janosch dies at 95

Janosch, born Horst Eckert in 1931, captivated generations of children worldwide with books such as “Oh, How Beautiful is Panama,” which have been translated into approximately 40 languages, accumulating millions of copies in total. His characters, Tiger, Bear, and Tiger Duck, became iconic, leading to successful licensing deals for merchandise ranging from mugs to bicycles.

Following the success of his books, Janosch retreated to the Spanish island of Tenerife in the 1980s.

His childhood in Upper Silesia, now part of Poland, was marked by poverty, violence, and his father’s alcoholism. His children’s stories served as a counterpoint to those difficult experiences, often imbued with humor, anarchic mischief, and a touch of melancholy. His characters frequently challenge oppression and injustice with courage and wit.

“Janosch turns those into heroes whom no one else notices,” wrote “Zeit” editor Tillmann Prüfer in the afterword to the book “Mr. Wondrak Saves the World, Hooray!” which collected Janosch’s columns for the “Zeit” magazine, where his alter ego Wondrak commented on current events since 2013.

In his works for adults, Janosch explored his challenging childhood, as seen in the novel “Cholonek or the Loving God Made of Clay.” He once told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung,” “The first years of my life were the total destruction of my person.” He also wrote plays and illustrated the scandalous stories of the French nobleman Marquis de Sade.