De Jong, Meindert

De Jong was born in the village of Vierum , province of Friesland , the Netherlands . In 1914, his parents emigrated to the United States and settled in the town of Grand Rapids , Michigan . De Jong studied at private Calvinist colleges, subsequently enrolled at the University of Chicago , but did not graduate. He started writing while he was still in college.

During the Great Depression, M. De Jong changed many professions - he worked as a bricklayer, was a church watchman, a grave digger, and taught at a small college in Iowa . At the suggestion of the children's librarian, De Jong began writing books for children. In 1938, the story “ The Big Goose and the Little White Duck ” appeared ( The Big Goose and the Little White Duck ). During World War II, De Jong served in the US Air Force , for some time part of it was stationed in China ^[1] .

After the war, De Jong resumed his literary work, writing a total of 27 books, seven of which take place in Holland. Six books by De Jong were illustrated by M. Sendak . De Jong's works were very popular in the 1950s, but by the 1970s they were increasingly criticized for sentimentality, and in the 1970s De Jong stopped his literary work.

He lived in Mexico for several years, after which he returned to the United States and lived the last years of his life in the state of Michigan .

• The novels Shadrach and Sandy, Hurry Home, were nominated for the John Newbury Medal in 1954;
• In 1955, the story “Wheel over School” was awarded the John Newbury Medal, and in 1957, the German Prize for Children's Literature , and in 1963 he was nominated for the American Lewis Carroll Shelf Award ^[2] .
• In 1956, the novel "The House of Sixty Fathers" received the Josette Frank Prize , and was also awarded the John Newbury Medal (1957).
• In 1962, De Jong was awarded the HK Andersen Prize for his contribution to children's literature. He became the first American writer to receive this award.
• In 1969, the story “Traveling from Mint Street” won the first National Book Award in the category of “Children's Literature” ^[3] .

In Russian

• Dayong Meyndert. Wheel on the roof. - Moscow: Children's Literature, 1980.

In English

• The Big Goose and the Little White Duck , 1938
• Smoke above the lane
• The wheel on the school
• Dirk's dog bello
• The House of sixty fathers
• Along came a dog
• The Cat that walked a week
• The last little cat
• The tower by the sea
• Far out the long canal
• Shadrach
• A horse came running
• The easter cat
• The singing hill
• Hurry home, Candy .

• MAINDERT DAYONG on the website of the All-Russian State Library of Foreign Literature. M. I. Rudomino