the children’s writer Juan Munoz, author of titles such as ‘Fray Perico and his donkey’, with which he sold more than a million and a half copies, or ‘El pirata Garrapata’, has passed away this Monday at the age of 93, as confirmed by his family.

The nonagenarian author from Madrid, a great reader and who contributed for more than 40 years to the promotion of reading among childrenhas died three years after publishing what will be his last work, “The Pirate Tick on Mars” within the mythical collection “El Barco de Vapor” (SM).

“Dear readers and students of Juan Muñoz, we sadly announce his death. His books will always make us remember the best moments of our childhood, laughing at his crazy stories. We hope that new readers discover him. We remember him that happily,” he announced. your family on social media.

For more than 40 years he contributed to promoting reading among the little ones

Juan Muñoz was born on May 13, 1929 in Madrid, where he studied French Philology and was a professor of Language and Literature in an educational center while he was dedicated to literature for the little ones. Besides writing (always with pen and paper), his other great passion was reading, especially the classics.

In 1966 he obtained his first literary recognition, the Doncel Award, and in 1980 he received the El Barco de Vapor Award for his most famous book, “Fray Perico and his donkey”. Years later, she won the SM Wide Angle Prize for a youth novel for “El hombre mecánico” (1984) and that same year she obtained the second runner-up prize for the short story New Acropolis.

In 1992 he was awarded the I Complutense Cervantes Chico Award for Children’s and Youth Literature as the author most read by children. In 1982 another of his most important books saw the light of day: “El pirata Garrapata”.

Over the years, he turned his two characters into protagonists of two sagas that have risen as the two titles best sellers of the “El Barco de Vapor” collection, from the publishing house SM: “Fray Perico y su borrico”, which has 71 editions and is used in Japan to teach Spanish, and “El pirata Garrapata”, which has 64 editions.

In 2021 he visited the Madrid Book Fair to present what will be his last book, “The Pirate Tick on Mars”. Decked out with a hook, his now weak legs did not allow him to stand for long, but Juan Muñoz walked through the fair before the gaze of many admirers. “I’m nervous,” this author confessed to EFE that he believed, with amazing humility, that the success of his books was due to the fact that “they are nice formats.”

The Ministry of Culture has lamented the death of Juan Muñoz and has recalled that last December he received from the hands of the kings the Gold Medal of Merit in Fine Arts 2021.