Madrid (EFE).- The children’s writer Juan Muñoz, author of titles such as “Fray Perico and his donkey”, with which he sold more than a million and a half copies, or “El pirata Garrapata”, has died this Monday at 93 years old, as confirmed by his family.
The nonagenarian author from Madrid, a great reader and who contributed for more than 40 years to the promotion of reading among children, has died three years after publishing what will be his last work, “El pirata Garrapata en Marte” within the mythical collection “The Steamboat” (SM).
“Dear readers and students of Juan Muñoz, we sadly announce his death. His books will always make us remember the best moments of our childhood, laughing at his crazy stories. We want new readers to discover you. We remember him that happy ”, his family has announced on social networks.
Juan Muñoz was born on May 13, 1929 in Madrid, where he studied French Philology and was a Language and Literature teacher at an educational center while he dedicated himself to literature for the little ones.
In addition to writing (always with pen and paper), his other great passion was reading, especially the classics.
The most famous books by Juan Muñoz
In 1966 he received his first literary recognition, the Doncel Award, and in 1980 he received the El Barco de Vapor Award for his most famous book, “Fray Perico y su donrico”.
Years later, he won the SM Gran Angular Youth Novel Award for “El hombre mecánico” (1984) and that same year he won the second runner-up prize for the short story New Acropolis. In 1992 he won the I Complutense Cervantes Chico Award for Children’s and Youth Literature as the author most read by children.
In 1982 another of his most important books saw the light: “El pirata Garrapata”.
Over the years, he turned his two characters into protagonists of two sagas that have risen as the two best-selling titles in the “El Barco de Vapor” collection, from the SM publishing house: “Fray Perico y su donrico”, which accounts for 71 editions and which in Japan is used to teach Spanish, and “El pirata Garrapata”, which has 64 editions.
“The Pirate Tick on Mars”, his latest work
In 2021 he visited the Madrid Book Fair to present what will be his latest book, “El pirata Tick on Mars”.
Wearing a hook, his now weak legs did not allow him to stand for long, but Juan Muñoz walked through the fair before the gaze of many admirers.
“I’m nervous,” this author confessed to EFE who believed, with astonishing humility, that the success of his books was due to the fact that “they are pleasant formats.”
The Ministry of Culture has regretted the death of Juan Muñoz and has recalled that last December he received the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts 2021 from the hands of the kings.
