Janosch was born in 1931 in the Upper Silesian village of Zaborze. From 1944 to 1953, he worked as a blacksmith in a metal workshop and as a textile pattern designer in factories. He learned to paint and began studying at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts but had to drop out during the probation period. Since then, he has lived as a freelance artist, working as a painter, rhyme finder, author of children's and picture books as well as novels, and creator of stories and characters – and he is a proud father of Tiger, Bear, and others. He received the German Youth Literature Prize for his book "Oh, How Beautiful is Panama." Janosch lives on a lonely island between the sea and the sun, where he loves to doze in his hammock.

The little Tiger and the little Bear are thick friends, and they fear nothing because they are wonderfully strong together. In their house by the river, they are cozy. But one day, they set off for Panama. "Extraordinary tenderness and warmth, winking humor, and worldly wisdom for little ones." Süddeutsche Zeitung.