Two important prizes for Children's and Youth Literature in the Catalan language have coincided these weeks. One rewarding already published work and the other discovering and valuing new stories for early readers (5-7 years). This last case is the Emili Teixidor Award granted by the Galera publishing house, and this year, in its second edition, the Valencian Irene Verdú has won with Embolic a la Biblioselva, a funny story about the fundamental elements that must prevail in every library, whether in the middle of the African jungle or not.
The other is the one awarded each year by the Consell Català del Llibre Infantil i Juvenil through a jury made up of thousands of kids and young readers who choose from a small selection of published works what are the books of the year for them. The Catalans Toni Mata, Alba Dalmau and Cinta Vidal are among the winners.
"For converting a symbolic place known to all readers -such as a library- into a memorable fun space and for the playful contribution through language and repetition". This is the assessment that the Emili Teixidor Award jury has made of this funny story starring a librarian zebra, in need of a well-deserved vacation. But in order to leave, she must find a replacement, and there are several interested candidates.
Irene Verdú is, in addition to being a children's writer, a librarian at the Library Service of the Oliva City Council (Valencia), where she was born and lives. Hence, this story reflects very well the needs that are required to be a good librarian, and that not everyone always knows how to fulfill, no matter how good a predisposition one may have. The story, which could well be one of the back-to-school readings for readers over 6 years old (in bookstores from September 1), has been illustrated by César Barceló, also from Valencia, who has managed to give the work that point of entanglement that Miss Zebra absolutely cannot allow in her library.
This robot is me by Shinsuke Yoshitake, Jefferson by Jean-Claude Mourlevat and Capgirat, by Alba Dalmau and Cinta Vidal are the winning works of the 17th Atrapallibres Prize, as well as The famous Walker catalog
The awards ceremony took place a few days ago in Mollerusa, where the prizes were awarded to the winners, not all of them in person.
An act that has highlighted the fun proposal of Shinsuke Yoshitake (he made an appearance virtually) in Aquest robot sóc jo (Books of the Red Fox, also in Spanish) where Kenta, its protagonist, is forced to reflect on everything what characterizes it. And since he has so many duties and obligations such as tidying up his room, he has decided to build a robot in his own image and likeness, but to do so he first has to give the robot details, and he will soon realize that superficial data is not enough; to build his alter ego it is necessary to delve into the details that make each one of us who we are. A highly illustrated book that drinks from comic techniques and where we meet the Japanese master, author of pearls like Stuck.
The Catalan public has also applauded the noir that Jean-Claude Mourlevat, one of the most successful French writers among young people in his country, offers us with Jefferson (Nordic). It is about a flirtatious reader hedgehog who, on his daily visit to the hairdresser, finds the body of the owner inside and, as in that famous film by Alfred Hitchcock, is unfairly accused of the crime, for which he must initiate an investigation against the clock to prove his identity. Innocence (Also in Catalan, for readers aged 10-11).
A work of multiple readings is the one offered by the artist Cinta Vidal in Capgirat (Bindi Books), where illustration takes the leading role to tell us about geometries and perspectives, so characteristic of her creations. Houses, buildings or scenarios that demand to be observed from different points of view in order to be able to see all their details. Details that if we are not attentive go unnoticed, like that cat that the author Alba Dalmau tells us about, which was lost after the earthquake (read confinement or any other event that turns life as we know it upside down) together with many other things.
As for the Young Protagonista award (from 12 to 16 years old), readers have also awarded a thriller that came to us in 2018 in Spanish from the publisher Destino, but that Vienna Edicions translated into Catalan last year. This is El famosíssim catàleg de Walker and Dawn by Davide Morosinotto, which in the purest style of the great adventure novels of the 19th century tells the adventure of four friends who pool their savings to make a purchase from a catalogue. What they receive, however, turns out not to be what they expected.
Finally, Nascuts per ser breus (La Galera), by Toni Mata, adds another award after receiving the Joaquim Ruyra 2019. A dystopia (are they back in vogue?), which starts off promisingly bloody with the slaughter of two million people from the suburbs of Sadira. Poor people, workers of the land called the Breves who feed the survival of the Eternals, the wealthy. And it is that the population cannot exceed 10,000 million people. When it is overcome, the roller passes (almost literally). And in the middle is Hunter, the protagonist.
