René Guillot

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René Guillot (1900 – March 26, 1969, in Paris, France) was a French children's author who lived, worked and travelled in French Africa.

After studying science, he moved to Senegal to work as a teacher, spending over 20 years in Africa. Most of the material for his many books comes from this time.

His books include "Kpo the Leopard," "The King of Cats," "Sirga: Queen of the African Bush," and "Oworo."

"Kpo the Leopard" was published in 1955 and was also included in "The Hamish Hamilton Book of Wise Animals," edited by Eilis Dillon, illustrated by Bernard Brett (Hamish Hamilton, London, 1975. ISBN 0-241-02156-1), together with pieces featuring "fabulous animals" such as Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," E. Nesbit's "Psammead," T. S. Eliot's "Mr. Mistoffelees," and "Rollicum Bitem the Fox" by John Masefield.

In 1964, he received a literary award for "Fodai and the Leopard-Men." This was the Hans Christian Andersen Award, sometimes known as the "Little Nobel Prize", named after the famous Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It is the highest international recognition given to an author (and an illustrator) of children's books, and is awarded every two years. His book The 397th White Elephant won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958.

Two films, (both directed by Patrick Grandperret) have been made from Guillot's children's books: L'Enfant Lion ("The Lion Child") ~ 1993, based on Guillot's "Sirga the Lioness," and Le Maître des éléphants ("The Elephant Master") ~ 1995.

A live-action version of "Little Dog Lost" featuring a Welsh Corgi, was made for the "Disneyland" show and was broadcast in 1963.

There was also a movie, Fort de la solitude (1948), directed by Robert Vernay, based on one of René Guillot's adult novels.

René Guillot died in Paris in 1969.

Partial bibliography

Kpo the Leopard (OUP, Oxford Children's Library 1955 ~ 160pp.) (3rd Eng. printing, 1967) Illustrated by Joan Kiddell-Monroe, translated by Gwen Marsh

The 397th White Elephant (SG Phillips 1957) Illustrated by Christian Heinrich

Grishka And The Bear (NY, Criterion Books 1960 ~ 115pp) Translated by Gwen Marsh. Illustrated by Joan Kiddell-Monroe

Master of the Elephants (OUP: London 1961 ~ 146pp) Translated by Barbara Seccombe

Riders Of The Wind (Rand McNally 1962 ~ 174pp) Illustrated by Richard Kennedy

The Wind of Chance (Oxford University Press London 1963 ~ 188pp) Translated by Norman Dale

Little Dog Lost (Librairie Hachette, Paris 1964) (English translation 1967) (US revised English translation published by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard and by William Morrow ~ 1970. ISBN 0-688-51139-2) Translated by Joan Selby-Lowndes, illustrated by Wallace Tripp

Balloon Journey (Clark McCutcheon 1966) Illustrated by David Knight

The Castle of the Crested Bird (NY: Watts 1968) Illustrated by Paul Durmand.

Fodai and the Leopard-Men (Funk & Wagnalls 1970 ~ 164pp.) Illustrated by Michel Jouin

Tales of Magic (Eng edition in translation ~ 1973) Illustrated by Paul Durmand

Pascal and the Lioness (Random House New Acorn Library ~ 1976) ISBN 0-370-10900-7 Translated and Adapted by Christina Holyoak Illustrated by Barry Wilkinson
Authors: Eleanor Farjeon (1956) • Astrid Lindgren (1958) • Erich Kästner (1960) • Meindert DeJong (1962) • René Guillot (1964) • Tove Jansson (1966) • James Krüss and José Maria Sanchez-Silva (1968) • Gianni Rodari (1970) • Scott O'Dell (1972) • Maria Gripe (1974) • Cecil Bødker (1976) • Paula Fox (1978) • Bohumil Říha (1980) • Lygia Bojunga Nunes (1982) • Christine Nöstlinger (1984) • Patricia Wrightson (1986) • Annie M. G. Schmidt (1988) • Tormod Haugen (1990) • Virginia Hamilton (1992) • Michio Mado (1994) • Uri Orlev (1996) • Katherine Paterson (1998) • Ana Maria Machado (2000) • Aidan Chambers (2002) • Martin Waddell (2004) • Margaret Mahy (2006) • Jürg Schubiger (2008) • David Almond (2010)
Illustrators: Alois Carigiet (1966) • Jiří Trnka (1968) • Maurice Sendak (1970) • Ib Spang Olsen (1972) • Farshid Mesghali (1974) • Tatyana Mavrina (1976) • Svend Otto S. (1978) • Suekichi Akaba (1980) • Zbigniew Rychlicki (1982) • Mitsumasa Anno (1984) • Robert Ingpen (1986) • Dusan Kállay (1988) • Lisbeth Zwerger (1990) • Kveta Pacovská (1992) • Jörg Müller (1994) • Klaus Ensikat (1996) • Tomi Ungerer (1998) • Anthony Browne (2000) • Quentin Blake (2002) • Max Velthuijs (2004) • Wolf Erlbruch (2006) • Roberto Innocenti (2008) • Jutta Bauer (2010)


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