Friday Library Snapshot … Feodor Rojankovsky

I came across these children’s books quite by accident this week and recognised them from my childhood; and remembered how different the images were from my other picture books.  Perhaps a little more realistic; they still seem fresh and appropriate.  I think that my grandsons would like them now.

Feodor Stepanovich Rojankovsky better known as Rojan was born in Mitava now know as Latvia in 1892.  He was best known for his illustrations in children’s books and also for erotic illustrations.
He studied at the Moscow Fine Arts Academy and then served in the Russian Army during WW1.  Soon after he moved to France and became a student of Esther Averill.  In 1942 he went to America and began his career as an illustrator of children’s books.  He was particularly interested in animals and natural history.  Rojankovsky also wrote books for example the Great big animal book was published in 1952, 

 In 1956 he won the Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in the Frog went a-courtin’ and adaptation of a folk tales by John Langstaff
It is told, that it was regular visits to the zoo that inspired his love for animals.  He also copied the works of his older brothers when they returned home from school.

I could discover little of his later life and he died in 1970.