Background
Ishii was born in Urawa, Saitama, and graduated from the Japan Women"s University with an English literature degree.
石井 桃子
Ishii was born in Urawa, Saitama, and graduated from the Japan Women"s University with an English literature degree.
Japan Women"s University.
While working as an editor at Iwanami Shoten Publishers, she decided to become a children"s writer after reading Winnie-the-Pooh by English author A. A. Milne, which she translated in 1940. Her first book as an author, Non-chan kumo ni noru (Non-chan rides on a cloud) was published in 1947. A best-seller, it was made into a movie in 1955.
All told, she published nineteen books of her own and 120 translations for children.
In 1997 she became a member of the Japanese Art Academy, the first member from the field of children"s literature.