Marcus pfister author biography in the back

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Q & A with Marcus Pfister

When it first appeared on bookstore shelves in 1992, Marcus Pfister’s The Rainbow Fish, the tale of a proud and lonely fish who finds happiness when he learns to share his iridescent scales, captured the fancy of children and parents alike. That story spawned a series of Rainbow Fish books across a variety of formats, which have been translated into 80 languages and have sold 30 million copies worldwide. Last October, NorthSouth published the seventh original Rainbow Fish title, Good Night, Little Rainbow Fish, and February brought Pfister’s Penguin Pete, first published in 1987, back into print. Due out this month is The Yellow Cab, which centers on an anthropomorphic New York City taxi that takes action on discovering that a construction vehicle is flattening the Amazon rainforest. Pfister, who lives in his native Bern, Switzerland, spoke with Bookshelf by phone about his various book projects.

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Marcus Pfister Biography

Biographical and Critical Sources

BOOKS

Children's Literature Review, Volume 42, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1997.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 15, 1994, p. 760; February 1, 1995, p. 1011; September 15, 1995, p. 176; April 1, 1997, p. 1338; October 1, 1997, p. 338; September 15, 1998, Ilene Cooper, review of Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale, p. 239; November 1, 1999, Shelley Townsend-Hudson, review of Make a Wish, Honey Bear!, p. 540.

Canadian Children's Literature, number 44, 1986, p. 97.

Horn Book, September-October, 1986, pp. 583-584.

Horn Book Guide, January-June, 1992, p. 243; July-December, 1994, p. 50.

Junior Bookshelf, December, 1993, p. 228.

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 1997; July 15, 1997; July 1, 1998.

Magpies, November, 1995, p. 12.

Observer, April 9, 1995, p. 19.

Publishers Weekly, June 2, 1997, p. 71; March 16, 1998, review of How Leo Learned to Be King, p. 63; February 14, 2000, review of The Happy Hedge

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Marcus Pfister was born the 30th of July 1960 in Bern, Switzer-land. He attended the Art School of Bern and then completed an apprenticeship as a Graphic Designer. From 1981-1983 he worked as a Graphic Designer at the publicity agency Alexandre Ott in Zurich. He then took off six months and traveled across the United States, Canada and Mexico. When he re-turned to Switzerland he started working as an independent Graphic Artist. Between 1984 and 1985 he made the sketches for his first picture book “The Sleepy Owl". It was published in 1986 by North-South Books, this was the beginning of a long collaboration. Until 1992, Marcus worked simultaneously as a Graphic Designer and as an author/illustrator of children's books.In 1992 he burst onto the international scene with his book "TheRainbow Fish", which convinced him to focus solely on writing and illustrating his own books.Up to now 65 books of Marcus Pfister have been published. They have been translated into more than 60 languages.