This section is reserved to first works by authors or illustrators and aims to acknowledge excellence in the area of research and innovative publishing projects.
Thames & Hudson, London, UK
Text by David Hockney and Martin Gayford, illustrations by Rose Blake
What the Jury said:
A conversation between artist David Hockney and the art critic Martin Gayford offers children a unique journey through the history of images and the process of artistic creation. The book shows new ways of introducing children to visual culture. Illustrator Rose Blake does the impossible, connecting images representing a wide range of art forms, visual languages, and master works, from the Lascaux Caves to Hockney’s own iPad creations. Her small joyfully humorous vignettes are brimming with narrative verve. Indeed, illustration is here the key to whetting children’s interest in visual culture. As a project, the book and its interplay of dialogue are profoundly new, casting into question myths and prejudices that have often hindered an authentic, meaningful relationship with art. It accompanies the reader as she discovers the essence of artistic creation and art. This book is a gift for all ages.
Media Vaca, Valencia, Spain
Text and illustrations by 31 Illustrators, edited by Vicente Ferrer
What the Jury said:
31 young illustrators were invited to create their own 2-coloured artwork inspired by two of their own preferred works of art from whatever period. A group of children aged 6 to 12 were invited by publisher Vicente Ferrer to discuss the illustrations. Their answers make up the text of this very special collection of diverse and often amusing exchanges between the illustrators and the works of art, and between the children and the illustrations. The ‘Museum’ of the title is not a physical but a virtual space that looks to new ways of reading and living art. This experimental book creates an innovative space for dialogue across generations and art forms as well as a new way of introducing young readers to visual language. It also affords a rare insight into how children read pictures.