Section dedicated to learning books from all areas of knowledge, science, history, art, music, biographies, or current affairs
Planeta Tangerina, Carcavelos, Portugal
Text by Isabel Minhós Martins, illustrations by Bernardo P. Carvalho
What the Jury said:
This illustrated collective biography celebrates explorers from around the world including Pytheas, Ibn Battuta, Mary Kingsley, Xuanzang, Marco Polo and Charles Darwin. The profiles humanize the historical figures, revealing the circumstances of each person’s life, the motivation for their quests—not just business interests and religious demands, but also the eternal human desire to face the unknown. The freedom and courage of the travellers are masterfully interpreted by the versatility and incredibly wide range of techniques and vision of the artist Bernardo Carvalho. Bold, black-ink vignettes of people and places alternate with vibrantly coloured acrylic paintings of mysterious abstract landscapes. The blending of styles and wide, open formats offer readers an opportunity to travel freely in their own imagined worlds.
Actes Sud Junior, Arles, France
Text and illustrations by Bruno Gibert
What the Jury said:
This very clever picturebook combines numbers and pictures with infographic language to impart a series of pointedly accurate statistics about things happening in the world every second of the day – facts that show up telling contrasts. The contradictions evidenced by the pictures are at times humorous and often shocking, prompting the reader to think of their implications. We learn, for example, of the salary difference between an athlete and a CEO (3 dollars as against 48) or the money spent for humanitarian aid and weapons (410 dollars compared with 5,500) or the number of kilometres cars have been driven (450,000, the distance between the Earth and the moon).
Cappelen Damm, Oslo, Norway
Text by Marta Breen, illustrations by Jenny Jordahl
What the Jury said:
This graphic novel presents a history of women’s contribution to the battle for human rights. The chapters spotlight individual and collective struggles around the world in different time periods, from Harriet Tubman and Rosa Luxemburg through to Malala. The author uses bold black outlines and differentiates the stories with single, distinct background colours. The graphic form and writing style – the work of an artistic duo - combine beautifully to depict the small moments that made up the big picture of women’s history.
Les Éditions des Éléphants, Paris, France
Text by Jessie Magana, illustrations by Magali Attiogbé
What the Jury said:
Named after a real street in France, this book follows the history of just one side of the street over more than a century, from 1890 to 2018. The book’s subtitle, au fil des migrations, is a clue to the book’s main idea: how migrants enrich communities. Each spread introduces new characters from many countries who contribute to the life of the street in different ways. The horizontal layout is functional to the streetscape subject, the style referencing ligne claire drawing. The clever, clearly defined scenarios use a variation-on-theme technique to show the passing of time, inviting the reader to linger over changing details like clothing, car design, advertisements and shop signs.
Libros del Zorro Rojo, Barcelona, Spain
Text by Johannes Amos Comenius, illustrations by Paulo Kreutzberger
What the Jury said:
The Jury is delighted to applaud Zorro Rojo’s special initiative in returning to the very first picturebook for children: Orbis Pictus, the Painted World, published in 1658 by the Bohemian master John Amos Comenius. The exquisite graphic design reflects the original page layout of the first children’s learning book, which paved the way for the encyclopaedias that were to come. As well as plants, animals, the seasons and man’s deeds, Comenius also dealt with subjects like the soul and dragons, depicted by engravings with brief descriptions. Making this seminal book available with the Spanish translation alongside the original Latin creates a new milestone in the history of children’s literature.
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