Little Hoge Wins the Libro Picture Book Grand Prize, Chosen By Booksellers
November 2011
Little Hoge, by Tamiko Yagi, has won the second annual Libro Picture Book Grand Prize, a new award established in 2010. Libro is a Japanese bookstore chain, and the winner is voted for by Libro staff out of a shortlist of ten picture books. Picture books first published between August 2010 and July 2011 were eligible to be shortlisted. Three of the final ten shortlisted books were Kaisei-sha publications.
First place: Little Hoge by Tamiko Yagi
Sixth place: Hairy Henry by Genichi Yamanishi
Ninth place: The Tea Party in the Woods by Akiko Miyakoshi
The shortlist will now be sold in all Libro stores.
The Libro Prize does not limit itself to high profile works by established authors, but also looks towards younger and upcoming authors and artists as a way to encourage and reward new talent in the picture book field. We’re already looking forward to seeing which titles are shortlisted next year.
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Little Hoge by Tamiko Yagi 25 x 19 cm, 32 pages Full-colour illustrations |
Hairy Henry by Genichi Yamanishi 27 x 21 cm, 32 pages Full-colour illustrations |
The Tea Party in the Woods by Akiko Miyakoshi 26 x 21 cm, 24 pages Full-colour illustrations |
New Book from Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Winner Ryoji Arai
November 2011
Ryoji Arai is an internationally renowned picture book author who received the acclaimed Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2005. His new book, “It’s Morning So I’ll Open the Window”, will be published by Kaisei-sha this December.
“It’s Morning So I’ll Open the Window” starts with the same line, and shows people waking up to the homes and surroundings that they love.
“There lies the sea, just where I always see it.
There is the sky, just where it is meant to be.
And that is why I am happy to be me, now, here”.
The book depicts the happiness of knowing that all the things that are important to you – the sea, the mountains, the town – are right where they should be. Almost as if Ryoji is asking each reader, what is it you love about your home?
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It’s Morning So I’ll Open the Window by Ryoji Arai |
A House of 100 Stories Wins ‘Academy Award’ Chosen by Children
November 2011
The ‘Minoh City World Academy Awards for Children’s Books’, organised by Minoh City in Osaka, has selected ‘A House of 100 Stories’ by Toshio Iwai. The award was developed to be a literary prize run by children, for children, to celebrate children’s literature. Children are invited to nominate their favourite books, and shortlists are drawn up for each category in June. Children are then invited to read the shortlisted books over the summer holidays, and a vote is held in September, at the beginning of the new term, to determine the winning books.
Children aged between 6 and 12 (first to sixth year elementary school children) are eligible to vote in the picture book category. ‘A House of 100 Stories’ was the outright winner, claiming around a third of all votes. An awards ceremony will be held in November, along with visits from the authors of winning books.
Awards celebrating books for children run by children, for children. It’s a lovely idea and we certainly hope it will spread to other parts of the country.
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A House of 100 Stories by Toshio Iwai 22 x 31 cm, 32 pages Full-colour illustrations |
‘The Wonders of Shops’ Flying Off the Shelves
November 2011
‘The Wonders of Shops’ by Chihiro Ishizu, illustrated by Kumiko Nakazawa, features a selection of everyday shops: the patisserie, the stationers, the grocers. Each shop is beautifully illustrated over a double page spread, and is accompanied with five ‘mysteries’, text clues for something hidden in the picture. The pictures are rich in detail, and have a sense of nostalgia about them that will charm adults reading with children. In the two months since its release, in September, the book has proved extremely popular, selling 20,000 copies in three print runs, not least because of strong support from booksellers.
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The Wonders of Shops by Chihiro Ishizu illus. by Kumiko Nakazawa 27 × 21 cm, 23 pages Full-colour illustrations |