Benno Pludra

Benno Pludra (1925–2014) was a German author of children’s and young adult books. He was born in Mückenburg, Pomerania, and joined the merchant navy at the age of 17, first as a cabin boy and later as an able seaman. After the Second World War, he completed his secondary education and studied German, history, and art history in Berlin and Halle from 1948. He subsequently worked as a teacher and journalist. He began publishing children’s books in the 1950s and wrote more than 40 books in total. In 1966, he received the National Prize of the GDR. His novel “Siebenstorch” won the German Youth Literature Prize in 1992.