Lyn Miller-Lachmann Torch Three teens struggle to carve out futures for themselves under a totalitarian regime. Czechoslovakia, 1969 Seventeen-year-old Pavol has watched his country’s freedoms disappear in the wake of the Soviet Union’s invasion. He’s seen his own dreams disappear too. In a desperate, fatal act of protest against the oppressive new government, he sets…
Award-winners
Lyn Miller-Lachmann Eyes Open Portugal, 1967. Sónia thinks she knows what her future holds. She’ll become a poet, and together she and her artist boyfriend, Zé Miguel, will rise above the government restrictions that shape their lives. The restrictions on what Sónia can do and where she can go without a man’s permission. The restrictions…
Dr. Rebecca E. Hirsch & Eugenia Nobati A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants – Wicked Weeds and Sinister Seeds “Should you encounter any of the plants in this book, do not treat them lightly. They can kill you. Or cause you unbearable agony. Or land you in jail. Consider yourself warned.” Explore the strange and…
Clara Thomasset Dream Days Self-empowerment between time and dreams The picture book Dream Days was created in collaboration with the young Belgian artist Clara Thomasset – an artistic and philosophical, yet wonderfully light and luminous story for children about time as an inner space and wealth and the great power of dreams. Little Milla glides…
Will Gmehling & Jens Rassmus The Star Lake When the four friends looked at the lake from the 11th floor of their tower block, they could see that it had jagged edges like a star. The ‘Star Lake’ made them proud of their neighbourhood, which was otherwise rather bleak. In January, the lake froze over…
Kathrin Schrocke Freak City Welcome to the world of silence When Mika meets Lea, his life is turned upside down. She is direct, lively – and beautiful. But Lea has been deaf since birth and lives in a world that Mika finds difficult to access. Does their love stand a chance? Kathrin Schrocke’s award-winning and…
Alexandra Helmig Off the Beat Always out of sync somehow Ina is fifteen and everything in her life seems to be out of sync: School is mediocre, she hates her body, her parents’ marriage is just a façade and her love life is a mess. When Ina falls in love with Phil, the boy from…
Julian Tapprich Tiger Dreams Leo was really no ordinary bird. He found the chirping and trilling and singing of the other birds boring enough to fly away. These same old songs! He preferred to indulge in his daydreams, which unfortunately he couldn’t tell anyone about, especially not the other birds. Because Leo dreamed of a…
Jürg Schubiger & Rotraut Susanne Berner When Death Came Calling Jürg Schubiger and Rotraut Susanne Berner tell us the story about a village somewhere back in time when Death was still completely unknown. Nobody had ever encountered him and everything that existed remained safe and sound. But then one day Death walks into the village…
Jutta Degenhardt & Lars Baus The Magical Word Lottery The biggest prize is words Helene’s grandma collects magical words in a little box. Helene is delighted with this treasure and has an idea: what if they raffled off the most beautiful words in a lottery? Grandma and Helene build a street stall and the first…
Nadia Budde The Band Nobody Knows Wrong tones, great atmosphere! Nadia Budde gets young and old on their feet Who are they? Four figures with patent leather ankle boots, rings and chains, hard to understand – never seen here before. Hair like grass, customised suit, fur on their faces – we don’t know them. While…
Saša Stanišić & Katja Spitzer Hey, hey, hey, Taxi! For a child, a taxi is a magic vehicle. A four-wheeled witches’ broom. As you enter it, a taxi can bring you anywhere you want to. But what if it’s magic was even bigger? What if taxis would allure stories, fantastic and absurd stories, funny stories…
Antje Damm The Nori Says No! The Nori lives underground and loves red berries and life in nature. But one day a giantess throws something into its cave, destroys the table and chair and snatches it away from its world. She sees the Nori as her toy, which is to live in a doll’s house…
Birgit Schössow Burying Grandma Siblings Mina, Paul and Annie now only have their neighbour, Mrs Mattuschke. From one day to the next, they are orphaned and the shock is followed by a wild decision not to go to a home. Fortunately, a grandmother turns up, albeit an unknown one. She had been travelling the world…
Gavin Bishop Miro – Look This arresting board book of first words in both Spanish and English by award-winning Gavin Bishop pairs family faces and toys to show connections while building vocabulary for shapes and colours. A member of the extended family looks directly at the reader alongside a familiar toy. Labels give the Spanish…
Ondřej Buddeus & Jindřich Janíček On Yer Bike! “When it’s alone, it waits and acts like a sleeping animal. But when you saddle up, it suddenly has the power and lust for life that you give it.” The bicycle has been man’s humble companion for more than 200 years, serving both young and old on…
Volker Surmann Leon Hertz and the Thing about Sadness Is this still normal, or already depri light? Leon Hertz is 13 3/4 years old and the third Leon in his class – pretty normal and unremarkable, in his opinion. But Rouven has noticed him, and not only that. He even helps Leon with his ethics…
Franz Suess In the Pockets of the Handsome Mr Day When handsome Mr Day gets tired, Mrs Night wakes up and it slowly gets dark everywhere. Mr Day quickly pockets various things that are left of him: a fish that didn’t find its way home, the last ray of sunshine that no longer warmed him…
Will Gmehling & Anna Schilling Molly Blume It buzzes and it beeps and goes pling About parents, mobile phones and a daughter who takes action Molly is really annoyed, her parents are addicted! Addicted to their smartphones. They stare at the screen all the time, never really listen to Molly and even miss the leopard…
Andrea Hensgen & Hannah Brückner I Wish I Were a Tree Tomorrow we will move on A picture book about the longing to stay A child dreams itself into the desire to be a tree. A large tree that is firmly rooted in the earth, that is alive and so strong that it provides shelter…