Elsa Beskow


Elsa Beskow was a Swedish author and illustrator of children's books. Among her better known books are Tale of the Little Little Old Woman and Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender.

Background

Born in Stockholm her parents were businessman Bernt Maartman, whose family came from Bergen, Norway, and Augusta Fahlstedt. Beskow studied Art Education at Konstfack, University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, then called Tekniska skolan, or the Technical school, in Stockholm.
She married former minister and social worker, doctor of theology Natanael Beskow in 1897. Elsa Beskow met her future husband at Djursholms samskola while serving as a teacher where he served as head master. From 1900 they lived in Villa Ekeliden in Djursholm which had initially been built for the author Viktor Rydberg. They had six sons, including the artist Bo Beskow and geologist Gunnar Beskow.

Career

In 1894 Beskow started to contribute to the children's magazine Jultomten. Overall, she would publish some forty books with her own text and images. Beskow frequently combined reality with elements from the fairy tale world. Children meet elves or goblins, and farm animals talk with people. Central themes were the relationships between children and adults and children's independent initiative.
Beskow became one of the most well known of all Swedish children's book artists. Many of her books became classics and are continually reprinted. Beskow also illustrated ABC books and songbooks for Swedish schools. Her book pages are often framed by decorative framework of the Art Nouveau style.
Beskow has accomplished many goals during her years such as "international recognition for simple, cheerful stories and outstanding ILLUSTRATIONS. Her work combined realism and FANTASY in both her stories and pictures, which depicted a happy home atmosphere in the Swedish countryside of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."

Poem


Sof du lilla vide ung,
än så är det vinter.
Än så sofva björk och ljung
ros och hyacinter.
Än så är det långt till vår,
innan rönn i blomning står.
Sof du lilla vide,
än så är det vinter.

Legacy

The Elsa Beskow Award was created in 1958 to recognize the year's best Swedish picture book illustrator.

Selected works