FICTION 2020

WINNER

Meine liebsten Dinge müssen mit 

Text by Sepideh Sarihi          
Illustrations by Julie Völk      
Beltz & Gelberg, Germany, 2018

What the jury said:
“This remarkable picturebook is the work of an Iranian writer and a German illustrator.  It describes, with finely drawn graphite illustrations, minute details, a touch of the surreal, a sense of place and a resonant theme, what it means to move or to experience change, and tells the truth that our most precious things do not necessarily fit in a suitcase.  This is a story of migration and memories, and of a child finding independence (on a bicycle) and learning to come to terms with loss." 

SPECIAL MENTION

Le Roi de la Lune      

Text by Bérengère Cournut  
Illustrations by Donatien Mary         
Éditions 2024, France, 2019

What the jury said:
“This visually surprising and amusing picturebook uses startling colours, graphic design, a retro style and cursive script, to tell a dynamic surreal adventure which starts when Anathilde’s bedtime story ends. Hinting at literary references, it takes the reader through fantastic landscapes and meetings with odd creatures."

SPECIAL MENTION

Le grand serpent

Text and illustrations by Adrien Parlange    
Albin Michel Jeunesse, France, 2019

What the jury said:
“In a horizontal format, this original lino-cut picturebook conjures a dream encounter between a child and a elongated pillow snake that travels across every page.  The snake’s body is like a path that goes through the room, the house, the garden, the city, and into the wild, ending with a friendly face-to-face exchange."

SPECIAL MENTION

The Wall in the Middle of the Book          

Text and Illustrations by Jon Agee               
Dial Books for Young Readers, USA, 2018

What the jury said:
“Illustrations contradict text in this clever, witty and resonant picturebook, in which a diminutive White knight asserts that the brick wall vertically occupying the gutter of every double-page spread will protect him from all that he fears on the other side. Cartoonish figures with expressive faces and body language belie all his misinformed apprehension."