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Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd / picture-alliance / dpa / dpaweb
If you look closely, you will discover great things: the inventor of the legendary Wimmel books, Alfons "Ali" Mitgutsch, is dead. Ravensburger Verlag announced this in a press release: "On the evening of January 10, 2022, the man who never ends up without pen and paper went to the house, died in Munich at the age of 86 «.
Mitgutsch's literary agents had informed the publisher about it.
Mitgutsch's son also confirmed the death of the picture book author to the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation.
Clemens Maier, CEO of Ravensburger AG, said: »Ali Mitgutsch's work has lost none of its charisma and fascination in all the decades that it has accompanied us at the publishing house. As the son of the then publisher, I grew up with his books, as my children do now. We are sad, but thankful that we were allowed to accompany him for so long. "
Mitgutsch was born on August 21, 1935 in Munich. “I was such a dreamer. That depended on me. They always said: Yes, here he comes, the dreamer! «Mitgutsch told SPIEGEL in 2015 about his childhood. He started his career as a graphic designer. In 1968 Mitgutsch's first Wimmelbuch was published by Ravensburger Verlag, »All around in my city«, for which he was awarded the German Youth Book Prize in 1969. Since then, the detailed illustrations have been telling wonderful everyday stories without words and colorfully - from the swimming pool, the farm, the mountains or the city - and it is hard to imagine German children's rooms without them.
Mitgutsch created "a new genre" with the Wimmel books, as the Ravensburger Verlag wrote in its epilogue.
Several dozen books, puzzles and posters followed.
In 2017 Mitgutsch announced his retirement and largely withdrew from public life.
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