Kurt Wiese (1887-1974) was a prolific and talented author-illustrator, with over four hundred titles to his name. Included in his work are such well-known titles as You Can Write Chinese (1945), The Story about Ping by Marjorie Flack (1933), and The Freddy the Pig series by Walter Brooks (1927-1958). Born in Minden, Germany, Wiese travelled widely in locales as diverse as China, Australia, and Brazil, before he ultimately settled in the United States. At the age of 22, he was sent to China as an import/export trader and spent five years traveling the continent and becoming conversant in Chinese language and culture. In World War I, he was taken prisoner by the Japanese and handed over to the British. During the subsequent five years, he was a prisoner of war, first in Hong Kong and later in Australia.

These early experiences left an indelible impression on him, and greatly influenced his work as a children’s author and illustrator. He is known for his international sensibility and careful observations of the diverse places he lived. It has been argued that he introduced entire generations to China and the Far East through his imaginative stories and accompanying illustrations, although he has also been criticized for succumbing to common Asian stereotypes of the era. Two of his titles, You Can Write Chinese and Fish in the Air, were recipients of the Caldecott Book Honor award. Other significant titles include India’s Children by Bani Shorter (1960), Australia in Story and Pictures by Marguerite Henry (1946), and Su-Mei's Golden Year by Marguerite H. Bro (1950).

His work on the Freddy the Pig series by Walter Brooks is also of particular note. The series is arguably one of the most subversive children’s works of the time. Freddy is a complex character who is alternately lazy and driven, insecure and confident, a daydreamer and a doer; in other words, all too human. Freddy the Politician (1939) has been likened to George Orwell’s Animal Farm, as it shrewdly explores everything from voter fraud to dictatorship to a citizen’s rights and responsibilities. In Freddy and the Bean Home News, Freddy starts a local newspaper which, due to its popularity, threatens the existing local newspaper. The editors of the local paper retaliate with fake news stories about Freddy, and threaten to shut down his paper with their formidable fortune and power. Readers must determine which account—Freddy’s or his opponent’s—most accurately represents the truth, a process which teaches children the critical art of discernment when reading any news story. This work cuts to the heart of questions regarding freedom of speech and the role of the press in a democracy.

The University of Oregon shares the Kurt Wiese papers with the University of Minnesota. The Oregon collection is substantial and important for a scholar studying Wiese’s work, and the history of children’s literature more generally. Of the four hundred books to his name, over seventy are represented here, with other illustrations coming from forty alternate sources.