Twentieth-century Estonian writer and illustrator of children's fiction. He published over 250 books during his long career and is most famous for his 1994 novel, Pokuraamat (The Book of Pokus).
He started working as a freelance illustrator in the early 1950s.
He never graduated from high school.
He was raised in Tallin, Estonia as the fourth of eight children.
He was born in the same country as fellow writer Oskar Luts.