The avalanche of books for Sant Jordi is such that some are literally lost. Or so we think. We are used to it by now. In the newsroom it happens often; wanting to find a book and becoming an impossible task. Then there is no need to worry: they will simply appear. It is as if books have their moment and can be found only when they want to be found. We like to think that they will poke around and come back when they are ready to be read. These that we present to you today have appeared as if by magic. Did they go together? Who knows, the question is that they are here, and Sant Jordi could well be any day.
Bruno
Detail of ‘Bruno’ by Emilio Urberuaga
Bruno is bored. He is a very versatile black point with two big eyes to look at the world. The possibilities that he finds to play are endless, but perhaps playing hide-and-seek would be ideal. He tries it with a dromedary, two camels and three sheep, but they are all failed attempts. Keep trying with four seagulls and five fish… The Madrid creator Emilio Urberuaga, who recently joined his talent in Pez with Javier Zabala, plays with the little ones the classic of counting to ten, which is the time when more or less one takes time to hide. A book that Naval published in 2011 (the same year that he was awarded the national prize for illustration) with the title a black thing and which is now reissued by Bululú as Bruno. Also in Catalan and Galician.
Shh! The onomatopoeia of every day
Illustration by Mariana Ruiz Johnson for ‘¡Shhh!’ by Fred Paronuzzi
Have you stopped to think about the amount of onomatopoeia we say throughout the day? Fred Paronuzzi yes, and he has embodied it in Shh! The onomatopoeia of every day, a fun book illustrated by Mariana Ruiz Johnson that starts early in the morning with the ticking of the clock, continues with the eslurp! After breakfast, he continues with the rash, rash rash from brushing his teeth and the flus, flus of mom’s perfume and ends the sepulchral silence before going to sleep. The glossary at the end brings together all the onomatopoeia used in the book and some more, with small explanations in case someone has not been clear. Also in Catalan.
Imperfect
Detail of the book ‘Im-perfect’ by Zuriñe Aguirre
The Basque illustrator Zuriñe Aguirre has won the Algar Award for Illustrated Album with im-perfector, the story of a doodle that decides not to leave the pencil that supports it because it feels overwhelmed and dwarfed by all the beautiful and perfect shapes that surround it. And while Scribble hides in the depths of the pencil lead, Pencil is more and more unhappy to see his life go by and his trunk dwindle, and never being able to experience the freedom of scribbling. A delicate reflection on imperfections where the image takes the floor. Also in Catalan and Valencian.
Sheep
Detail of the book ‘The Sheep’ by Zeina Abirached
The Lebanese cartoonist Zeina Abirached, author of pearls such as The Oriental Piano or The Game of the Swallows, makes her first foray into the world of children, drawing inspiration from her own childhood to create The Sheep, a song to indomitable curly hair. With the predilection of black and white so characteristic of the author, the protagonist of this story tells how every morning her curly hair becomes the battlefield between her mother, her hair and the comb, until they decide to take her to the hairdresser. , something that at first is cause for great joy but ends with great tears. And it is that our protagonist has grown a sheep on her head. Something funny for those who have never dealt with a hairdresser / a little sensitive with curly-haired girls. A humorous story with which we have identified a lot.
Casilda’s double life
Illustration by Amandine Piu for ‘The Double Life of Casilda’ by Émilie Charezand
We will not tell you who Casilda is because it would be making a spoiler for a book that, on second reading, takes on a different tone and in which we manage to see what we had not seen on the first round. Because that’s what this book is about, double readings, double motivations, double families, double lives, in short. And what motivates her? The need to always be accompanied, covered, cared for or even pampered? Does the excitement know doing something with a point of mischief? Or simply, the desire to be part of another family photo and see what happens? And if all of us, at some point, integrated ourselves for a few hours in other people’s lives. Cats often do. And the one on the cover of Casilda’s double life it could well be called Casilda. Or not.
foggy morning
Detail of ‘Misty Morning’ by Nono Granero
This new series brought to us by the writer and illustrator Nono Granero for early readers is starred by Calzas, Pecas, Brinco and Chas, some curious characters that resemble children dressed as animals, or animals with children’s masks. Be that as it may, they are all friends, and the situations they experience raise great doubts. In foggy morning, For example, how do you know who is knocking on the door if you can barely see your own hands? What if the visitor who claims to be called Freckles is an impostor? But he sounds just like Freckles…In Birthday the topic gets a little more curly, because what happens when all the protagonists celebrate their anniversary on the same day? And everyone wants to be congratulated and gifted. Who should do it and why? Nono Granero in its purest form to shake your brains with good background stories. Also in Catalan and Basque.
Saint George against the dragons
Detail of the book ‘Saint George against the dragons’ by Carles Balañá, illustrated by Lourdes Navarro
A dragon escaped us, but fortunately we have been able to find it thanks to the clues that Carles Balañà and Lourdes Navarro have left us in this escape book for the little ones. The FDI (Inopportune Dragons Out) investigative agency led by Saint George is in charge of taking the lead in Saint George against the dragons, a title that tells us everything about the story but little about how it is woven. We will have to carry out several investigations that will take us to Egypt or China, and we must be attentive to the mysteries that must be solved to continue advancing in the stories: mazes, riddles, enigmas… A very entertaining version of Sant Jordi for curious little minds
noises and noises
Detail of the book ‘Ruidos y ruiditos’ by Mar Benegas, illustrated by Laia Domènech
The Valencian Mar Benegas entertains us with another book to bring poetry closer to the little ones, this time putting the accent on the sounds that surround us. If before we talked about a book dedicated to onomatopoeia, on this occasion the object of our attention is “the pom-pom of the heart / the trill of the nightingale / the coughs and snores / the song, the wind and the voice”. One of our favorites is An ice cream in the park, which the author asks to recite gesturing well when making all the noises and noises that she proposes in the verse. There are also riddles, strings of words, secrets and mysteries “very large kept in a nut…”. The colorful watercolors by Laia Domènech have just given the perfect touch to these noises and noises.
Nora’s Lost Treasure
Detail of ‘The Lost Treasure of Nora’ by Marco Rocchi and Francesca Carità
According to the European Health Survey, in mid-2020 there were 2.1 million people with a depressive picture in Spain, which represents 5.25% of the population over 15 years of age in the country. To talk about the subject to young people, the Italian tandem has come up with a formula that in our opinion is exceptional: through the freshness, speed and context of the cartoons we enter the world of Nora, a 10-year-old girl with an overflowing imagination capable of creating adventure out of nothing with a simple box of pencils. They are her power and the weapon with which she will be able to tear, at least for this once, her father from her sad clutches, a metaphor for that depression that dominates her life.
Suffering from depression is a constant struggle to stay afloat and the cartoons of nora’s treasure they reflect from the childish gaze of a 10-year-old girl, what it means to somehow live with her. A nightmare from which, however, you can emerge victorious. A very eloquent reading that nevertheless is experienced as a true adventure.
frankie’s world
Detail from the book ‘Frankie’s World’ by Aoife Dooley
Irish author Aoife Dooley was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) when she was 27 years old. As the protagonist of her in frankie’s worldShe felt different from the rest of her classmates. Frankie is her alter ego and, in a comic book (again the comic), he explains the adventures of this young sixth grader who sometimes says things without any type of filter, and how for that reason they call her a geek in class . It’s not a dramatic comic, although there is bullying, divorce and heart disease involved. There is also a subplot that encompasses everything: the search for Frankie’s biological father, who, diagnosed with Tea, will give her daughter the keys so that all the gears that she thought were out of place are placed in her place. She believed that there was something wrong with her brain, and what was really happening was that she did not have the correct instruction manual. An exciting read. Also in Catalan.
