Children's author and illustrator Jan Pieńkowski has died

Jan Pieńkowski, who wrote or illustrated over 140 children’s books, has died at the age of eighty-five.

He was best known for his work on the Meg and Mog pop-up books, which featured a witch and her cat.

The Guardian notes that his interest in cut-out figures dated back to his time as a child in war-torn Poland; a soldier had kept him calm and occupied in an air-raid shelter by cutting figures out from newspapers.

You can read more about Pieńkowski's career and creative motivations in his obituary.