The Most Beautiful Books of 2019 According to IBBY
Poland's yearly IBBY awards, dedicated to the most beautiful publications for children and teenagers are not only prestigious awards for authors but for literary and graphic forms as well. This year’s contenders included albums, novels as well as books encouraging literacy.
Graphic design awards
Jacek Ambrożewski and Zosia Frankowska for their graphic design and illustrations in ‘Podróżnicy: Wielkie Wyprawy Polaków’ (editor’s translation: Travellers: Poles’ Great Adventures), Dwie Siostry Publishing House
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Cover and centrefold from ‘Podróżnicy: Wielkie Wyprawy Polaków’ (Travellers: Poles’ Great Adventures), illustrations and graphic design by Jacek Ambrożewski and Zosia Frankowska, photo: Dwie Siostry Publishing House
The publishing house Dwie Siostry has proven there are few places on the Earth where Poles haven’t set foot. Podróżnicy is a cleverly illustrated overview of expeditions to dazzling heights, distant poles and empty deserts. The book also travels through time: it tells the inspiring story of Polish globetrotters, divided by centuries but linked through their shared curiosity of the world.
Monika Hanulak for her picture book ‘Homo Lector Kalendarz na 13 Miesięcy’ (Homo Lector Calendar for 13 Months), Wytwórnia Publishing House
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Cover and centrefold from ‘Homo Lector Kalendarz na 13 Miesięcy’ (Homo Lector Calendar for 13 Months), illustration and graphic design by Monika Hanulak, photo: Wytwórnia Publishing House
Thanks to Monika Hanulak, everyone can create his or her own unique, personalised calendars for any given year, with an extra month to spare. All you need is to write in the days on a blank calendar, and cut out the correct month from the back. It’s also worth mentioning that each month stars a gorilla reading a book on each page. Humour, nature, a literate anthropoid – there’s a little bit for everyone in this calendar.
Graphic design honourable mentions
Gosia Herba for illustrations in ‘Balonowa 5’, Egmont Polska Publishing House
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Cover and centrefold from ‘Balonowa 5’, illustration by Gosia Herba, photo: Egmont Polska
Mikołaj Pasiński’s book is a tale directed to younger readers, of a sympathetic bunch of tenants in unexpected and atypical flats. The humorous stories set on 5 Balonowa Street, as well as the rich illustrations, open the reader to a fantastical world that’s equally formed through words and art. Gosia Herba is the illustrator of the tenants’ adventures.
Ala Bankroft for illustrations and Ewa Stiasny for graphic design in ‘Widziałem Pięknego Dzięcioła’ (I Saw a Beautiful Woodpecker), Dwie Siostry Publishing House
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Cover and centrefold for ‘Widziałem Pięknego Dzięcioła’ (I Saw a Beautiful Woodpecker), illustrations: Ala Bankroft, graphic design: Ewa Stiasny, photo Dwie Siostry Publishing House
Eight-year-old Michał receives a summer vacation assignment of writing down one sentence in his notebook each day. The boy writes down commonplace events, typical for the calm atmosphere of the summer. Yet the end of his vacation also signals the end of everything Michał had previously known – this was, after all, 1939. The course of history quickly changes a calligraphic assignment into an absorbing document, which 80 years later has been paired with atmospheric paintings, creating a one-of-a-kind book.
Maria Dek for ‘Przeplatalińscy’ (The Interweavables), Dwie Siostry Publishing House
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Cover and centrefold for ‘Przeplatalińscy’ (The Interweavables), Maria Dek, photo: Dwie Siostry Publishing House
A unique formal experiment elevates Maria Dek’s book to something more than just an album of colourful characters. This new book is a new entry in the atypical method of interweaving narratives. Thanks to its division of each page into three parts, which can be read in any order, the work allows readers to create unique tales, full of humour and absurdity.
Małgorzata Dmitruk for illustrations and Maciej Trzebiecki for graphic design in ‘Wojtek’, Agora Publishing House
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Cover and centrefold for ‘Wojtek’, illustrations: Małgorzata Dmitruk, graphic design: Maciej Trzebiecki, photo: Agora Publishing House
While Wojtek the stork is preparing for his journey to warmer climes, something strange happens in a nearby house. Seven-year-old Jacek’s father suddenly leaves. The boy hopes he’ll return in the spring, along with the stork. In the meantime, he has to wait and make sure that both have something to return to. Wojtek is not only a captivating tale of a boy and a stork, it also is a story of love, perseverance in working towards a goal, and acceptance of human shortcomings. Małgorzata Dmitruk’s illustrations deserve special notice.
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Literary awards
Marta Kisiel for ‘Małe Licho I Anioł z Kamienia’ (The Little Bogeyman and the Angel of Stone), Foksal Publishing Group, Wilga Publishing House
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Marta Kisiel ‘Małe Licho i anioł z kamienia’, photo: Foksal Publishing Group, Wilga Publishing House
It seems that Bożek, an extraordinary boy with extraordinary powers, is set for a life of boredom. Readers last met him in Małe Licho i Tajemnica Niebożątka (The Little Bogeyman and the Mystery of the Poor Little Thing), though it turns out that peace and quiet doesn’t last long. Marta Kisiel, with the help of an angel allergic to feathers, shows her readers that though it’s impossible to avoid change, it’s important to stay yourself.
Agnieszka Wolny-Hamkało, ‘Lato Adeli’ (Adela’s Summer), Hokus-Pokus Publishing House
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Agnieszka Wolny-Hamkało ‘Lato Adeli’ (Adela’s Summer), photo: Hokus-Pokus Publishing House
Adela, whom readers met in Nikt Nas Nie Upomni (No One Will Remind Us), has returned in another of Agnieszka Wolny-Hamkało’s books. The author once more creates a visceral world, a portrait of youth full of emotions and new experiences. The story’s protagonist hurtles towards adulthood, though she still remains in a liminal space, neither adult nor child, surrounded by friends intoxicated with the smell of summer.
Literary honourable mentions
Ewa Jałochowska for ‘Smutek Mamuta: Prawie Wszystkie Mity Świata – Rozmowy z Jędrkiem’ (A Mammoth’s Sadness: Almost All the World’s Myths – Conversations with Jędrek), Nisza Publishing House
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Ewa Jałochowska, ‘Smutek Mamuta: Prawie Wszystkie Mity Świata – Rozmowy z Jędrkiem’ (A Mammoth’s Sadness: Almost All the World’s Myths – Conversations with Jędrek), photo: Nisza Publishing House
Smutek Mamuta is a book for those who are interested in learning variegated histories. Variety is the key word here, as these tales are both commonplace and important, full of warriors, monsters, fear, hope, endings and beginnings – so, everything humans cope with today. These stories of shared experiences have survived until today. Ages ago we heard them by campfires, and now they return once more in Ewa Jałochowska’s new books.
Małgorzata Strękowska-Zaremba for ‘Lilana’, Nasza Księgarnia Publishing House
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Cover of ‘Lilana’, written by Małgorzata Strękowska-Zaremba, photo: Nasza Księgarnia
In Lilana, a colony forgotten by the world, life flows differently – much like in a secret garden inside of a glass bottle. Yet it’s in a hermetic world full of wonders that Natalia and her family discover happiness. Especially her mother, who discovers her smile. In time, Natalia begins to discover unsettling secrets about the colony, while simultaneously diving deeper within herself, her sadness, relationships and family.
Tina Oziewicz for ‘Awaria Elektrowni’ (Power Plant Emergency), Dwie Siostry Publishing House
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Cover and illustration from 'Awaria Elektrowni’ (Power Plant Emergency) written by Tina Oziewicz, Dwie Siostry Publishing House
Yet another nominated book from Dwie Siostry, this time an atmospheric, richly illustrated tale about animal nightlife. Tina Oziewicz turns her focus onto those unassuming city dwellers, who can finally enter the streets when they no longer have to fear blinding lights. A mysterious world, briefly rid of electricity and marginally less friendly for humans, is shown from a completely new perspective. The situation reveals a second dimension to it – a more natural view, as it turns out.
Additional awards
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Cover and illustration from ‘Teatr Niewidzialnych Dzieci’ (Theatre of Invisible Children), 2016, photo: Latarnik Publishing House
Marcin Szczygielski’s Teatr Niewidzialnych Dzieci (Theatre of Invisible Children) received the special prize in the category ‘Dziecko Jest Najważniejsze’ (Children Are the Most Important). Danuta Świerczyńska-Jelonek received the main prize for promoting readership.
Originally written in Polish, translated by AZ, Dec 2019
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