Swedish Books for Young Readers 1
31 Swedish Books for Young Readers Anna-Clara & T
homas Tidholm This outstanding husband and wife team has created a string of wonderful, award winning books since the early 1980s. They developed a view of visual storytelling without the need of traditional (adult) dramaturgy. Their idea is that children put together the plot based on much looser entities, like scenes linked together impressionistically. Anna-Clara Tidholm has an extremely rich body of work also on her own. She is considered as one of Sweden’s most prominent and innovative children’s book creators. The child’s perspective has been a constant point of departure in her work. Her illustrations are full of warmth and although seemingly simple, very expressive. Anna-Clara has been nominated to the Hans Christian Andersen Award several times. She has also received the Elsa Beskow Plaque and the August Prize among others. The Knock Knock Series, picture books, 1992-1994, 8 titles, Alfabeta Rights: Alfabeta Tidholm’s most iconic title focuses on the actual turning of the pages, that are opened and closed like “doors”, an early, interactive picture book! It has a perma nent place on Sweden’s bestseller list with 500 000 copies sold in Sweden and nearly as many internationally, translated into 20 languages. Everyone Can Ride Along, picture book, 2004, Alfabeta Rights: Alfabeta A little girl is enjoying driving around in her big blue lorry, soon joined by a Santa Claus. Together they pass a pig who is brooding gloomily in the rain. He, as all the other characters they meet, drive home to have a party, enjoying each other’s company! The Ture Series, picture books, 1995-1998, 8 titles, Alfabeta Rights: Alfabeta Seemingly simple, but poetic and philosophical stories about Ture’s little adventures and everyday situations with his dog “Hello”. Ture has something that appeals to all of us, both young and old. The Journey to Ugri-La-Brek, picture book, 1987, Alfabeta Rights: Alfabeta Hinken and Myran go on a trip to Granddad on the other side of the world. A very moving story about life and death seen through the children’s own mythological wide-angle perspective. It is a modern classic, which has received awards such as the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 1991. Photo: Alfabeta