Three Czech books on the prestigious White Ravens list

The selection of international children’s and young adult literature is published by the International Youth Library in Munich.

Awards

Logo WR2016 crop

The full catalogue can be found here. The Czech books added to the catalogue this year are:

klarkaOlga Černá & Alžběta Skálová — Little Clara and 11 Grannies (Klárka a 11 babiček)
Age: 8+

Clara and her grandpa live together. When Grandpa falls from the roof and has to stay in the hospital awhile, Clara must live someplace else. For almost a year she migrates through eleven different home-away-from-homes, in the process meeting eleven grandmas – usually friends of her grandpa – each with her own special traits and lifestyle. The girl writes to her grandpa in letters and postcards, describing her experiences and feelings.

 

hleda-se-hvezda-obalkaLenka Brodecká & Tereza Ščerbová — The Search for a Star (Hledá se hvězda)
Age: 10+

In this children’s book, Lenka Brodecká (b.1972) admirably demonstrates how a fairy-tale setting with princesses, king and jester can provide the ingredients for a rapidly paced and quite modern detective story. A Magic Stone that protects a kingdom from evil has disappeared, and now chaos and ruin threaten. Only the two child protagonists, the princess and the court jester, can save the land by going to find the stone.

Read an excerpt here.

 

Nova_planeta_coverMartin Vopěnka — New Planet (Nová Planeta)
Age: 12+

Czech children’s literature would not be the same without Martin Vopěnka (b. 1963). For years, he has been valued as a publisher of elaborate picture book projects and as an author of fantasy children’s and young adult books, including The Sleeping City (Spící město). In New Planet, which won the important Zlatá Stuha prize in 2016, Vopěnka presents a dark vision of the future. What happens when the digital elite of the human race distances itself from the rest?

Read an excerpt here.

CzechLit