Hans Christian Andersen Awards 2016

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IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) announced the winners of the 2016 Hans Christian Andersen awards on 4th April.
I look forward to this event every time. Their longlists are always extensive, covering childrens authors/illustrators worldwide. It gives us a reminder of the  rich and varied landscape in childrens literature, showing the concerns and similarities of the lives of children across the globe. When we view the shortlists, we are seeing the creme de la creme in childrens publishing, not simply in our own national or regional area, but everywhere....quite literally. It aids in a better communication and understanding of ourselves as human beings. The Hans Christian Andersen Award is consider the Nobel Prize for childrens writing and illustration. Always a truly fascinating experience.
The shortlists for this years' award came from such places as Iran, Denmark, Korea, and the USA. It's probably best just to show you,
Short List:

Illustration:
Germany:  Rotraut Susanne Berner
Iran: Pejman Rahimizadeh
Italy: Alessandro Sanna
Korea: Suzy Lee
Netherlands: Marit Törnqvist

Writing:
China: Cao Wenxuan
Denmark: Louis Jensen
Germany: Mirjam Pressler
Netherlands: Ted van Lieshout
USA: Lois Lowry

From this still extensive list, the winners have been chosen and they are:

For illustration, the Hans Christian Andersen Award goes to Rotraut Susanne Bernard.
" Berner’s work is at all times recognizably hers, while simultaneously being intensely responsive to the demands of the text, or in the case of the Wimmel Books, to the specific world of a very specific town.  She is willing to take risks—"


For writing, the winner is Cao Wenxuan of China.
" The unanimous choice of the jury, Cao writes beautifully about the complex lives of children facing great challenges. He is a deeply committed writer, whose own difficult childhood has been deeply influential on his writing in which there are no easy answers..."





Each displaying an amazing and wonderful body of work that speaks directly to the lives and hearts of children everywhere, both are truly deserving winners. Congratulations!
For the full press release, follow the link below:
http://www.ibby.org/1568.0.html?&L=dhvefbewagndr%27

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