Annette Langen


Annette Langen is a German author of children's and young adults’ literature. She was born 29 April 1967 in Leverkusen, Germany, and is known for her picture book series about Felix, a traveling stuffed rabbit.

Life

Langen grew up in a family of booksellers in Leichlingen in the region of Rhineland, Germany. After graduating from a college preparatory high school, she became a book retailer and then travelled to the United States in order to attend the Radcliffe Publishing Course. Returning to Germany, she began working as a commissioning editor for a children's book publisher for many years. It was at this time that she began writing her first children's books. She has been a freelance author since 2000. Langen has a daughter and son and lives near Cologne, Germany.

Career

Langen has published over 60 children's and young adult books. Of these, many have been translated, into over 29 languages. Her first children's book was published in 1989.
Her first book in the Felix series was about a rabbit named Felix, who gets lost, and writes letters home to his owner, Sophie. This was one of Annette's creative inspirations as she travelled often with her family, even as a small child. This practice of writing letters has a long history with Annette; she had numerous penpals throughout the world, many of whom she continues to correspond with. Often it is Annette's own childhood memories of travels taken with her family that appear in her compilation of Felix books.
Annette Langen is an ardent supporter of children's literacy and is actively engaged as an ambassador in this area. She has been a volunteer patron to the Solingen Elementary School since 2001 and a Reading Ambassador of Germany's Reading Foundation since 2011 and took over the leadership of Patronage for Mentoring Coesfeld in 2012.

Honors

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