International children's and youth literature at the 2016 Berlin International Literature Festival
The 16th International Literature Festival Berlin with its festival section International Children's and Youth Literature took place from September 7th to 17th, 2016. The main venue was the Haus der Berliner Festspiele . The opening speech of the children's and youth program was given by Ruta Sepetys on September 7, 2016.
Attendees
31 authors and illustrators were guests of the section:
| guest | Featured books |
|---|---|
| Carll Cneut | German premiere - De Gouden Kooi / The golden cage (2014) |
| Zeina Abirached |
Mourir, Partir, Revenir - Le Jeu des Hirondelles (2007)
German premiere of Le Piano Oriental (2015) |
| Simon van der Geest | International Premiere - Geel Gras / The Summer That I'll Get Famous (Without My Parents Noticing) (2009)
International premiere - Spinder / Krasshüpfer (2013) |
| Alex Gino | International premiere of George (2015) |
| Guojing | International premiere - The Only Child / Alone (2015) |
| Nikolaus Heidelbach | Berlin premiere - Arno and the limited liability company (2016)
Berlin premiere - Rosel von Melaten (2015) |
| Judith Kerr | International premiere - Mr Cleghorn's Seal / Mr Cleghorns Seehund (2015) |
| Maitha al Khayat | German premiere - Tareeqati al Khassa / My Own Special Way (2010) |
| Noura Al-Khoori | International premiere - Ruta min Thahab (2013) |
| Kenneth Oppel | German premiere - The Nest / Das Nest (2015)
German premiere - Airborn / Wolkenpanther (2004) |
| Håkon Øvreås | German premiere - Brune / Super-Bruno (2013) |
| David van Reybrouck | Congo: een geschiedenis / Congo: A Story (2010) |
| Özge Samanci | International premiere - Dare to Disappoint: Growing up in Turkey (2015) |
| Gideon Samson | Berlin premiere - Met je hoofd boven water (2010) |
| Boualem Sansal | 2084: la fin du monde / 2084: The end of the world (2015) |
| Allen Say | World Premiere - Under the Cherry Blossom Tree / Under the Cherry Blossom (1974)
International premiere - Grandfather's Journey (1993) International premiere - Kamishibai Man / The Kamishibai Man (2005) |
| Ruta Sepetys |
Between Shades of Gray / And in me the invincible summer (2011)
German premiere - Salt to the Sea / Salt for the Sea (2016) |
| Jakob Wegelius | German premiere - Legenden om Sally Jones / Sally Jones - A trip around the world in pictures (2008)
German premiere - Mördarens Apa / Sally Jones - Murder without a corpse (2014) |
| Bette Westera | International Premiere - Doodgewoon (2014) |
The extraordinary book
For the fifth time in the history of the festival, the section's guests were asked to choose a book that they would recommend to children, adolescents or young adults. The recommended books were exhibited during the festival in the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and the Philipp Schaeffer Library as part of the exhibition The Extraordinary Book Vol. 5 . The following books have been recommended so far:
| Juror | Award-winning book | Justification of the juror |
|---|---|---|
| Zeina Abirached | Exercises de Style (1947) / Style exercises (1961) by Raymond Queneau | |
| Julia Benner | Brown Girl Dreaming (2014) by Jacqueline Woodson | "An extraordinary book in every respect - direct, quiet and haunting." |
| Mina Braun | Krabat (1977) by Otfried Preußler | »Krabat is the epic, adventurous and mystical story of a brave young boy, who is drawn into the world of the darks arts, but who ends up using the magical skills he learns against the evil forces who threaten the lives of those he loves. « |
| Carll Cneut | Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours (1872) / Journey around the earth in 80 days (1873) by Jules Verne | "A book which will take you to places you will never be." |
| Maureen Maisha Eggers | Mama's Nightingale - A Story of Immigration And Separation (2015) by Edwidge Danticat | »The book addresses the difficult, conflictual reality of the protagonist Saya, whose mother is imprisoned in a prison for undocumented women: her mother's poetic stories are recorded on audio cassette, her father's letters to decision-makers and finally Saya's own story, her letter to the local newspaper ending the period of absence, privation and appraisal. " |
| Simon van der Geest | Skellig (1998) / Time of the Moon (1999) by David Almond | “This book is written in crystal clear sentences which just drag me into the story. Very exciting. « |
| Alex Gino | Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974) / Where the sidewalk ends (1987) by Shel Silverstein | "Shel Silverstein's poems are funny, real, impossible, irreverent, meaningful, and sometimes written on the neck of a running giraffe." |
| Guojing | The Lost Thing (2000) / Die Fundsache (2009) by Shaun Tan | "Special things will be shining if they find their right space." |
| Nikolaus Heidelbach | In front of my door on a mat (2016) by Nadia Budde | "... because it's so mean and funny." |
| Inga Israel | The Arrival (2006) / A New Land (2008) by Shaun Tan | "This book has fascinated and influenced me very much because it is wonderfully illustrated, does not require any text and can tell an extremely gripping story - very big." |
| Maitha Al Khayat | Uncle Khalfan's Sheep (2013) by Maitha Al Khayat | "I sure would want to read a book that would prepare me to go to the dentist." |
| Noura AL-Khoori | Ajwan (2012) by Noura Al Noman | "The first Sci-Fi novel for young adults in Arabic - written by an Emirati woman - highlights the pressing issues of the Middle East and opens the minds of Arab youth to the importance of critical thinking." |
| Sebastian Loescher | But I'm nothing without my accordion! (2013) by Johanna Benz | "A surprising, intoxicating and virtuously drawn book about an accordion player who had the world at his feet." |
| Mawil | QRT: The New Neighbor (2015) by Ferdinand Lutz | »QRT is the new neighbor in the house, but actually he is an alien, who is actually a little boy and he has to get along on earth all by himself and must not allow himself to be exposed by people and everything is incredibly exciting, but actually. .. it's totally funny. " |
| Anne Mihan | The Art of Being Normal (2015) / Together we will shine (2015) by Lisa Williamson | "This book encourages readers in a refreshing way to free themselves from restrictive gender norms and to love life in all its colorfulness - an eye-opener and potential gain not only for gender-queer youth, but also for their peers, parents and teachers." |
| Kenneth Oppel | Danny, the Champion of the World (1975) / Danny or Die Fasanenjagd (1977) by Roald Dahl | "The amazing relationship between the father and son: fun, comforting, and adventurous." |
| Håkon Øvreås | Pappan och havet (1965) / Moomin's miraculous island adventure (1993) by Tove Jansson | "An existential and beautiful children's book about finding new paths when everything changes." |
| Niels Penke | The Graveyard Book (2008) / The Graveyard Book (2009) by Neil Gaiman | "... because it shows the beauty of the remote and unobtrusively reflects big questions." |
| Markus Palatine | That's the way it goes?! - Biographical comic reports from LGBTI * (2014) by Martina Schradi | "... because it can sensitize every age group to different orientations and gender in a pleasantly friendly and easily accessible way." |
| David van Reybrouck | Tintin au Tibet (1960) / Tim in Tibet (1960) by Hergé | "It is an extraordinarily moving story about the friendship between a Belgian and Tibetan boy, set in the magnificent landscape of the Himalayas, drawn by the greatest graphic novel pioneer of all times." |
| Yusuf Rieger | Siddhartha (1922) by Hermann Hesse | »A special book because it helped me tremendously after graduating from high school with my personal future planning and the life story of the main character encourages young people to go their own way and trust their own feelings instead of the usual demands of society and their parents comply without questioning them. " |
| Özge Samanci | One Hundred Demons (2002) by Lynda Barry | "Lynda Barry guides the troubled, the fanciful, and the dreamers towards those adventurous places of expression, by dimming and harnessing the chaotic sounds of a challenging past, shining her light to help others find their own." |
| Gideon Samson | Kees de jongen (1923) by Theo Thijssen | "This book about a 12-year-old constantly daydreaming shoemaker's son is so special because it's witty, touching and crystal clear written."
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| Boualem Sansal | El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605) / Don Quixote (1648) by Miguel de Cervantes | “Don Quixote is an outright and timeless book, which combines all genres in a unique way. One can read this book both on an esoteric and on an exoteric level. "
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| Allen Say | The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922) / Doctor Dolittle's Floating Island (1926) by Hugh Lofting | "As a child I dreamed of being able to speak with birds and animals - as Doctor Dolittle did - rather than with humans."
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| Ruta Sepetys | Fiume lento. Un viaggio lungo il po (2013) / The River (2014) by Alessandro Sanna | "Four seasons in stunning watercolor become a gorgeous and thoughtful reminder that time flows like a river." |
| Anika Ullmann | Two Boys Kissing (2013) / Two Boys Kissing - Every Second Counts (2015) by David Levithan | "An exciting perspective that opens up a historical dimension that is otherwise neglected in current queer youth literature: emotionally gripping, it makes clear that being gay is not a homogeneous experience, but is determined by when I am, where I am and who surrounds me." |
| Jakob Wegelius | L'affaire tournesol (1922) / The Fall of the Bienlein (1926) by Hergé | "Almost all of Hergés stories about Tintin are brilliant." |
| Bette Westera | Torenhoog on mijlen breed (1969) / Tower high and miles wide (1995) by Tonke Dragt | "I wanted to be like Edu when I was 11 years old and read the book: brave, inquiring and open to everything that is different." |
| Benedict Wolf | Die Mitte der Welt (1998) by Andreas Steinhöfel | »... because the book is full of life and joie de vivre without denying the dark and evil and thereby achieves a complex perspective of youthful realities. Last but not least, it is full of hilarious and deeply sad moments. " |