Paul Maar is one of the most popular and successful German authors of books for children and young people. He was born in Schweinfurt in 1937, studied painting and art history and worked as a teacher and art teacher at a grammar school for several years before taking the leap to concentrate entirely on his artistic work as a freelance author and illustrator. His work has been recognised with numerous major awards. Paul Maar's work is impressively versatile. His best-known characters include the wish-fulfilling Sams, Mr Bello, who wanders between the animal and human worlds, and Lippel, who dreams of oriental adventures and has enjoyed success in books and films.
