1. J. L. 17.12 1887 – 14.12 1957 He was a Czech painter, illustrator and cartoonist. J.L. was born near Prague in the small village of Hrusice. His father was a cobbler and the family were poor. The little boy lost an eye when he fell out of his cradle and landed on one of his father's knives. But he had a happy childhood and loved Christmas. When he finished primary school he went to Prague to become a house painter, but art was his passion, and he started to work for a magazine as an illustrator. Later he became on of the most famous Czech artists. His work was even admired by Pablo Picasso.

2. He is best known as the illustrator of Jaroslav Hašek's World War One novel The Good Soldier Švejk. He produced nearly 600 cartoons of the Švejk characters,

3. You can listen to a story about Josef Lada and the The Good Soldier Švejk on the website - http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/josef-ladas- paintings-an-enduring-symbol-of-czech-christmas http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/josef-ladas- paintings-an-enduring-symbol-of-czech-christmas

4. The most famous paintings: 0 Czech landscape 0 Czech nativity scene 0 Spring on the way to the village 0 Spring with children 0 Saint Nicholas 0 Brawl in a pub 0 The campfire 0 Winter on the weir

11. Mikes He wrote and illustrated the adventures of Mikeš, a little black cat who could talk. Mikeš has got two good friends - a goat and a pig.

13. REFERENCES: http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/josef-ladas- paintings-an-enduring-symbol-of-czech-christmas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Lada http://www.laduv-kraj.cz/turistika/cesta-kocoura-mikese/