Jan Pienkowski: a lifetime in books
The pop-up pioneer and creator of the iconic Meg and Mog series has won our Lifetime Achivement Award 2019.
Funny, moving and beautifully constructed, Jan Pieńkowski can move effortlessly between haunting fairy tales, well-meaning witches, elaborate feats of paper engineering, and early learning picture books for babies.
Below are 20 of our favourite books, covering a wide range of reading ages. If you've not yet introduced your child to Jan Pieńkowski, now is the perfect time to start...
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Meg and Mog
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Meg and Mog
In this the first story about much-loved characters Meg the witch and Mog her cat, the pair go off to a wild Hallowe'en party with…
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The Glass Mountain: Favourite Tales from Poland
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The Glass Mountain: Favourite Tales from Poland
Jan Pienkowski was born in Poland, a land replete with folk tales and with a cultural tradition of paper cutting, which he has uti…
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Haunted House
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Haunted House
Enjoy a tour of this spooky old house where a spine-tingling surprise lurks in every dark corner.
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Meg Goes to Bed
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Meg Goes to Bed
Meg, Mog and Owl are a beloved addition to any picture book collection and this quirky fun tale is no exception.
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The Thousand Nights and One Night
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The Thousand Nights and One Night
The Thousand Nights and One Night are full of classic tales of intrigue, trickery, love and magic. Retold by David Walse…
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The First Noel: A Christmas Pop-Up
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The First Noel: A Christmas Pop-Up
From the moment that Mary conceives Jesus to his birth in a humble stable, the Nativity is depicted simply and with great beauty i…
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Meg at Sea
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Meg at Sea
Meg, Mog and Owl go sailing, but when there is no wind Meg makes a spell to make it blow more strongly and inadvertently brews up …
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A Necklace of Raindrops
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A Necklace of Raindrops
Filled with poetic repetitions, each story beautifully balances the prosaic with the wondrous.
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Dinner Time
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Dinner Time
This pop-up classic from Pienkowski’s 80s heyday showcases his accessible snappy-jaws paper crafting, at a time when not many othe…
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Meg Comes to School
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Meg Comes to School
When Meg attends Owl's school sports day in a very unusual hat, everyone is in for a big surprise!
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M.O.L.E: Much Overworked Little Earthmover
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M.O.L.E: Much Overworked Little Earthmover
Mole’s tale of our world from the Christian creation myth to modern times is an unusual but thought-provoking combination of cute …
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Good Night: A Pop-Up Lullaby
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Good Night: A Pop-Up Lullaby
This joyously varied big hardback pop-up picture book uses rhyme to weave a raft of unusual animals into the bedtime routine, remi…
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ABC Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures
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ABC Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures
This big format dinosaur pop-up book may not contain any information about the dinos features, but it’s the pop-up papercraft that…
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Meg in the Jungle
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Meg in the Jungle
It’s Mog the cat’s birthday and she makes a wish… to go to the jungle! Jan Pienkowski’s artwork is full of bold colour, chara…
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The First Christmas
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The First Christmas
Jan Pienkowski's silhouette illustrations lend an air of mystery and drama to this text, taken from the King James Bible.
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In The Beginning: Best Loved Bible Stories
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In The Beginning: Best Loved Bible Stories
In this collection of Old Testament stories, Pienkowski uses the original text but illustrates the stories with his inimitable psy…
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