Meg Rosoff. Award Laureate 2016 1
Previous Laureates PRAESA, 2015. PRAESA is an org
anisation that has worked to promote reading and literature for children and young people in South Africa since 1992. Barbro Lindgren, 2014. Author, Sweden. Using adventurous language and rich psychological nuance, Barbro Lindgren presents to us both playful shenanigans and moments of bright joy, the inscrutable nature of life and the nearness of death. Isol, 2013. Illustrator and author, Argentina. Isol sees the world through the eyes of the child. Her picturebooks are humorous with surprising twists, occasionally philosophical and always subtle. Guus Kuijer, 2012. Author, The Netherlands. The uncompromising perspective of the child is always present in Guus Kuijer’s works, but at the same time, through his young protagonists, he paints a perceptive picture of the adult world. Shaun Tan, 2011. Illustrator and author, Australia. Shaun Tan is a masterly visual storyteller, pointing the way ahead to new possibilities for picture books. His pictorial worlds constitute a separate universe where nothing is self-evident and anything is possible. Kitty Crowther, 2010. Illustrator and author, Belgium. Kitty Crowther is the master of line but also of atmosphere. She maintains the tradition of the picture book while transforming and renewing it. In her world, the door between imagination and reality is wide open. Tamer Institute for Community Education, 2009. Promoters of reading, Palestine. Under difficult circumstances, the Institute carries out reading promotion of an unusual breadth and versatility. Sonya Hartnett, 2008. Author, Australia. With psychological depth and a concealed yet palpable anger, she depicts the circumstances of young people without avoiding the darker sides of life. Banco del Libro, 2007. Promoters of reading, Venezuela. In a true pioneering spirit, with ingenuity and a sheer determination, the Banco del Libro has constantly sought new ways of disseminating books and promoting reading. Katherine Paterson, 2006. Author, USA. A brilliant psychologist who gets right under the skin of the vulnerable young people she creates, whether in historical or exotic settings, or in the grim reality of the US today. Philip Pullman, 2005. Author, United Kingdom. Through his strong characters he stands firmly on the side of young people, ruthlessly questioning authority and proclaiming humanism and the power of love whilst maintaining an optimistic belief in the child even in the darkest of situations. Ryôji Arai, 2005. Illustrator, Japan. His picture books glow with warmth, playful good humour and an audacious spontaneity that appeals to children and adults alike. Lygia Bojunga, 2004. Author, Brazil. In a deeply original way she fuses playfulness, poetic beauty and absurd humour with social critique, a love of freedom and a strong empathy with the vulnerable child. Christine Nöstlinger, 2003. Author, Austria. Her diversified and highly committed authorship is characterized by disrespectful humour, clear-sighted solemnity and inconspicuous warmth. Maurice Sendak, 2003. Illustrator and author, USA. He is unparalleled in developing the picture book’s unique possibilities of and furthermore, he is one of the most courageous researchers of the most secret recesses of childhood – to the delight of constant new readers.