Ela Peroci (11 February 1922 – 18 November 2001) was a Slovene children's writer, author of numerous children's stories that are considered classics in Slovene children's literature. Her best known story is Muca Copatarica (Slipper Keeper Kitty), illustrated by Ančka Gošnik Godec, which has seen numerous reprints and has sold over 140,000 copies.Ela Peroci: Otroci so ji včasih rekli kar Muca Copatarica (Ela Peroci: Children Would Sometimes Call Her the Slipper Keeper Kitty), article in Delo, 6 February 2012
Peroci was born in Sveti Križ pri Rogaški Slatini in 1922. She trained as a teacher and started teaching in 1945. In 1948, she started working as a journalist for children's publications such as Pionir, Ciciban and Mladi Svet. She graduated from the University of Ljubljana in 1954 and then worked at the national radio broadcaster until her retirement in 1978. She wrote short stories for children but also published two poetry collections for adults. She died in Ljubljana in 2001.
She won the Levstik Award twice, in 1955 for Moj dežnik je lahko balon (My Umbrella Can Turn into a Balloon) and in 1956 for Tisočkratlepa (Thousandbeauty). In 1971 she won the Prešeren Foundation Award for her collection of stories Na oni strani srebrne črte (Beyond the Silver Line).Slovenian Ministry of Culture, complete list of Prešeren Foundation Awards recipients
Bibliography
Picture books Moj dežnik je lahko balon (My Umbrella Can Turn into a Balloon), 1955 Tisočkratlepa (Thousandbeauty), 1956 Majhno kot mezinec (Small As the Thumb), 1957 Muca Copatarica (Slipper Keeper Kitty), 1957 Kje so stezice? (Where Are the Paths?), 1960 Zato, ker je na nebu oblak (Because There is A Cloud in the Sky), 1963 Hišica iz kock (House of Blocks), 1964 Kozliček Goliček (Goliček the Goat), 1964 Bomo šli s sanmi po snegu in spustili se po bregu (We Shall Take Our Sleigh and Sledge Down the Hill), 1965 Vozimo, vozimo vlak (We Drive, We Drive A Train), 1965 Čebelice (Bees), 1966 Klobuček, petelin in roža (The Little Hat, the Cockrel and the Flower), 1968 Pravljice žive v velikem starem mestu (Live Stories in the Big Old Town), 1969 Stara hiša št. 3 (The Old House At No.3.), 1973 Lalala (Lalala), 1975 Modri zajec (The Blue Rabbit), 1975 Nina v čudežni deželi (Nina In The Strange Land), 1985 Telefon (The Telephone), 1987 Amalija in Amalija (Amalia and Amalia), 1998
Stories Tacek (Tacek), 1959 Za lahko noč (Good Night Stories), 1964 Očala tete Bajavaje (Aunt Bajvaja's Glasses), 1969 Stolp iz voščilnic (The Greeting Card Tower), 1977 Siva miš, ti loviš (Grey Mouse, You Catch), 1983 Mož z dežnikom (The Man With the Umbrella), 1989 Prisedite k moji mizici (Come And Sit At My Table), 1990 Povestice Tik-Tak (Tick-tack Tales), 1998
Poetry Rišem dan (I Draw the Day), 1966 Ko živim (When I Live), 1975
Prose Breskve (Peaches), 1959 Po šoli me počakaj (Wait For Me After School), 1966 Reci sonce, reci luna (Say Sun, Say Moon), 1979 Fantek in punčka (Boy and Girl), 1996
References