Gábor Nógrádi
He wrote six scripts for motion pictures, each of which made it to the big screen, including the comedy-drama We Never Die (Hungarian title: "Sose Halunk Meg"), which was selected as the Hungarian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards (but was not nominated).
[17][18][19] Born in 1947 to Jewish parents in poverty-stricken Hungary and growing up in the darkest age of communism in Eastern Europe, Nogradi looks back on his childhood as harrowing and unhappy, given his family's difficult economic status and the inexorable antisemitism of the communist regime.
His life mirrors his philosophy on survival: "The deeper one finds himself at the bottom of the pool, the bigger push he can give to himself, as long as he is determined enough to get to the surface.
"[22] Nogradi credits his early childhood experiences with much of his success in writing, as he says it helped him to "develop an extreme layer of toughness to handle rejections.
He later became a journalist for a Hungarian cultural weekly, Új Tükör ("New Mirror") and worked there as a reporter and publicist for fifteen years.
[27] Whether it is the cheeky little girl Emma, who drives her father nuts with her world-changing ideas and her constant desire for free spirit, or twelve-year-old Emily, who one morning wakes up realizing she had switched bodies with her mom - they all have one thing in common: an undeterred fighting spirit to understand the world around them and to make the world understand them.
His goal is to help his readers "to identify their own dreams and conflicts in the adventures of the heroes and heroines in my novels, who must face realities and choices, not always easy or happy ones.
A jolly detective figures out the truth and finds the boy hiding in an attic, but instead of exposing the kids, he decides to come to the aid of the desperate children.
A provocative and enticing plot, a police investigation, mischievous twins, humor, love, friendship, loyalty, courage, a tumultuous family, oddball neighbors, an evil mother-in-law, and a Hollywood-style happy ending - all parts of an exciting and whimsical novel.
The book was made into the children movie Kidnapping on Palank Street (Gyerekrablás a Palánk utcában) in 1986.
[29][30][31] The sequel titled (original title's translation: Hetcheky and the cheeky burglars), is a humorous novel about a bunch of vivacious kids who steal from crooked entrepreneurs, 'Robin Hood style', under the direction of the brassy granny in order to help their parents overcome some financial difficulties.
was inspired by his younger son, Benjamin, an animal enthusiast who kept all kinds of pets in his room from hamsters to parrots and a dozen aquariums full of tropical fish.
It was also made into a musical and its chapters have become a common choice for school children attending recital and speaking competitions.
[33][34] The story of Pie In this amusing and thought-provoking book, father and son wake up one morning and find that they had swapped bodies.
[36][37] Being My Mom This time it is daughter and mom who switch bodies, following the successful intervention of the somewhat wacky and eccentric scientist grandpa, whose constant desire to improve the world resembles the enthusiasm of Christopher Lloyd's character (Dr. Emmett Brown - 'Doc') from the movie "Back to the Future."
The weeks and months can pass, there can be a bunch of doubters around him and even grandma can make arrangements to bring a new mommy to Dad, but Benedict knows that Mom is alive!
These are witty epitaphs from a fictional pet cemetery of an American town in the Midwest, Billingstone, in which the animals tell their stories from beyond the grave.
Gabor Nogradi has become famous for personally reaching out to his readers in the form of lectures and author/reader meetings in primary schools and local libraries across Hungary, Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia.
His talks include overcoming obstacles in life, exploring talents, and the importance of reading literature for pleasure in the growth of a child.
Over the past decade, he has conducted 800+ lectures and personally met over 40,000 of his loyal readers, an accomplishment that has never been done by any other children's book writer before.
[41][42][43][44] Nogradi now lives near Budapest, the capital of Hungary, with Krisztina, in a house overlooking the curve of the Danube.
As he says, "They look at me as an outsider, because the people who give the awards in our country do not fully understand what I have been trying to accomplish with my work and my projects.
As a famous Hungarian poet, Sandor Weöres, once said, a writer, if he is any good, must live a sort of life that the powers that be do not even consider him for an award....
An author writing for youth can help his readers open the door to a new world, the mystery of social encounters, the secret of human relations.
He can reassure the strengths of the child's personality, he can decrease his anxiety and fears, he has the ability to deepen his knowledge, he can help him better understand the world.
"[49] On the importance of reading literature for pleasure "Books have vital roles in man's life just like any other art forms: they cure the soul, they educate us with the knowledge and the message within the lines, they improve self-knowledge, they enhance the imagination, sharpen the creativity.
The child must be allowed to find his own way, just like the root grows in the ground, avoiding stones, seeking nutrients.
(1989) Itt éltünk köztetek - Állatsírversek (Anna Moll néven) (1990) A mi Kinizsink (1990) Hogyan neveljünk...?
(A médiakapcsolatok művészete) (2004) Vigyázz, hogy sose érjen baj (2005 Édes Munyimunyi (Az Óperencián túl) (2005) Ki érti ezt?
