William Pène du Bois was born on May 9, 1916, in Nutley, New Jersey. He was born into a family of artists. He wrote and illustrated books for kids starting from the mid-30s. In World War II He served as a correspondent for Yank Magazine, and others, and became the first art director of The Paris Review in 1953.

In the 60s, Du Bois began, but didn't finish, a series about the seven deadly sins. The sloth book was titled Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead, snicker, pride was Pretty Pretty Peggy Moffitt, gluttony was Porko von Popbutton, and avarice was Call Me Bandicoot.   The Alligator Case and The Horse in the Camel Suit parodied the detective novels of Raymond Chandler. They're all out of print.

Over his career, Du Bois illustrated books by such notable authors as Edward Lear, Jules Verne, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Roald Dahl, and Mark Strand. Damn!

Paul Zelinsky lists du Bois among his early literary heroes.

Du Bois died on February 5, 1993, in Nice, France.


Books:

The Twenty-One Balloons   (1948 Newbery Award)


thanks to:
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/0/0,5716,106480,00.html
www.amazon.com

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