James Crews is a German children's writer and poet. The winner of the Hans Christian Andersen gold medal is the author of the fairy tale "Tim Thaler, or Sold Laughter".
James Jacob Heinrich Crews is called the most titled and famous children's writer of the twentieth century in Germany. The biography of the writer began on the small island of Helgoland in 1926, on the last day of May.
Time to choose destination
James was the first child in a large family of an electrician of English descent. Since most of the relatives earned a living by fishing, the boy's fate was closely connected with the North Sea.
With the outbreak of war, the parents moved to Thuringia, and from there they moved to Lower Saxony. James completed his secondary education there in 1943. The graduate decided to become a teacher. He entered the pedagogical school of Luneburg. At the end of the summer of 1944, the young man was mobilized to the front. However, he never began to fight, finding the end of the battles in training in the Czech Republic.
The family decided to live in Cuxhaven. James also returned there later. He finished his studies in Lüneburg, but did not get a chance to work in his specialty. The young man founded a magazine for the inhabitants of Helgoland. However, the publication had to be closed. The former editor moved to a village near Munich. In 1950 he met the famous storyteller Erich Kester. He advised a promising acquaintance to compose for children.
Kestner helped James find a job on radio. Crews began by writing poetry. He composed stories and plays. The audience liked his creations. Other radio stations in Europe also took an interest in creativity. The name of the aspiring writer gained fame.
In 1953, the first book for children, Hunzelman Travels Around the World, was published. Crews began a collaboration with the Friedrich Oettinger publishing house in Hamburg. The fruitful work lasted the entire life of the author. In 1962, Crews' most famous fairy tale about Tim Thaler's sold laughter came out. The work bizarrely intertwined the main leitmotifs of two German classics, Goethe and Chamisso. If in "Faust" and "The Amazing Story of Peter Schlemil" the soul and shadow were sold, Tim parted with a laugh.
The brightest works
The protagonist of the story is a boy who learned injustice from early childhood. At first, he lost his beloved mother. The stepmother tried with all her might not to notice her stepson, giving all her love to her own child. After the death of his father, Tim became very difficult. The only weapon against troubles for him was a ringing infectious laugh.
It was he who attracted the mysterious baron, who offered a good deal. The man decided to get a funny laugh in exchange for the ability to win any bet. Thaler, who was in distress, agreed to this. Special luck quickly made the boy rich.
Tim was able to afford everything that he did not even dare to dream of earlier. Only the acquisition of superpowers did not bring him joy. He lost the ability to laugh. Tim decided to recoup the loss. It was impossible to ask friends for help. The boy had no right to tell anyone about the deal. According to her condition, he was forever deprived of the opportunity to return laughter, losing amazing luck in everything.
A special place in children's literature is given to works of an educational and instructive nature. According to the author, he became a writer thanks to his love of fun. The highest value of life for Crews was laughter. After the success of the story, he decided to create its sequel. However, Tim Thaler's Dolls did not achieve such fame.
But on the creator of the book prizes simply rained down. He managed to buy a house in the Canaries in 1965 with the received fees. The writer spent more than thirty years there. James never had a wife or child. Creativity became his life.
In 1968, the children's writer received the most honorable literary award, the Hans Christian Andersen Gold Medal. She was awarded for the works of various directions and genres created by the author.
Summarizing
In 1952 the islet of Helgoland was returned to Germany. The usual life was getting better, houses were being restored. Crews decided to celebrate his half-century anniversary in his small homeland. In 1976 he returned there and celebrated his birthday with numerous relatives.
The writer managed to find a barely noticeable line between boring edifications and exciting narratives. His work "My Great-Grandfather, Heroes and Me" combines prose and poems created by the author himself. The story is written as a conversation between poets of great-grandfather and great-grandson.
The gray-haired sage tells many stories about heroes who lived at different times. It tells the story of wandering knights, heroes, great battles and insidious enemies. At the same time, the descendant learns about what is called a real feat, and what is empty bravado, where a senseless risk, an attempt to show off.
James Crews was and remains one of the most revered children's authors of the last century. He loved his job very much. A significant contribution to the development of children's literature was his books, impregnated with kindness. The works acquire more and more new readers, conquering young hearts.
James Jacob Heinrich Crews passed away in 1997, on 2 August. He became the most famous inhabitant of the island of Helgoland. In the small homeland of the most titled writer in Germany, a museum named after him was founded and operates.
