New Swedish Books, Spring 2020 1
17 Spring 2020 The Night Bakery The Night Bakery
is where all the insomniacs gather. Where those who are afraid of the light, or who can’t or won’t sleep, meet. From all walks of life they come, and with all sorts of values. Perhaps they want a dream-cake, to eat a madeleine or they long for the most expensive cake of them all. The narrative captures what it’s like being an outsider, as well as depicting a cast of offbeat characters. It’s at the Night Bakery where Leon ends up when he can’t sleep, and when Granny suddenly appears outside his bedroom window to bring him to this magical place. Hannah Arnesen has studied narrative composition for picture books at the School of Design and Crafts in Gothenburg and is currently at Konstfack – the University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. In her new book The Night Bakery she continues to work on themes already familiar to her, exploring the borderlines between dream, fantasy and reality. All set in a brilliantly imaginative landscape that is far from the grey realism of the everyday. In Hanna Arensen’s storytelling everything is possible, ambiguous or challenging. Her colourful and personal images draw the reader in and create, together with her visual style and clever language, her own universe – with the child’s imagination at its centre. Nothing is over-explained or simplified. The Night Bakery trusts children’s own ability to interpret and understand. Hannah Arnesen Selected works Tågresan, picture book, 2018 På natten flyger vi, picture book, 2019 Picture book, 32 p. Publisher Natur & Kultur www.nok.se Hannah Arnesen (b. 1992) Rights Koja Agency Carin Bacho carin.bacho@kojaagency.com Photo: Josefin Ekman