In 1947-49 he studied at the Krefeld School of Textile Art, briefly studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Collaborated in periodicals. Lives in Spain since 1980.
He became famous for his picture books, which he illustrated himself, and created more than 100 of them. The most famous are the series The name of the car is Ferdinand (Das Auto hier heißt Ferdinand 1964), Ferdinand in the Land of Lions (Ferdinand im Löwenland 1965), The strong car Ferdinand (Das starke Auto Ferdinand 1975), books Hares are not stupid (Hasenkinder sind nicht dumm 1978, Lithuanian language 1997), Panama is very beautiful (Oh, wie schön ist Panama 1976), Let's find the treasure, children (Komm, wir finden einen Schatz 1979), Letter to the Tiger (Post für den Tiger 1980, all in Lithuanian language 1989 42017), Short science about animals (Kleine Tierkunde für Kinder 1984, Lithuanian language 1999). In the book Janosch follows Grimm's fairy tales (Janosch erzählt Grimm's Märchen 1972, in Lithuanian under the title Brolių Grimų paskas otherwise 2007) there is a particularly vivid parody. The works usually depict humanized animals and objects, imitate the naivety of a child, and are characterized by comedy.
