Illustrator Nominee: Germany

Jutta Bauer
Germany, Illustrator

I don't want to hide behind my books.

– Jutta Bauer

Commentator Mareile Oetken in writing about Jutta Bauer stresses Bauer's attitude towards her work:'And it has never been to her disadvantage, she claims, to have woven her personal experiences and observations about life into her work for adults and for children. Especially her best picturebooks seem to be a sensitive seismographic record of the roads and by-ways she has taken, including all the bumps encountered along the way. Far from being traditional, protective and idylls just for children, her narratives and picture stories are full of life, in the best sense of the word. And when one takes a closer, attentive look, one always gets a feeling for two things: those things that hold the world together at its innermost core – trust, love, security – which is, to her mind, the true purpose of children's literature; but also, that it is not always possible to resolve such contradictions.'

Bauer was born in 1955. Her father was a teacher and the family lived in Volksdorf near Hamburg. She studied illustration at the College of Design in Hamburg. After graduation she worked for seven years at a women's magazine, Brigitte, and began to illustrate picturebooks. Her first books were published in 1981, and subsequently she worked as a freelance artist and illustrator. She still works for journals, drawing cartoons, and also draws animated films for which she has received many awards, and cartoons for the television channel ZDF's series 'The Show with the Mouse'. These were later published as picturebooks.

She frequently works in ink, tempera and crayon, expressing much with a seemingly simple line. In Opas Engel she demonstrates how this simplicity can work tellingly to convey deep feelings. This book, along with others of Bauer's, has received awards and praise. She has created more than 40 books and her work is translated into over 18 languages.