This Silent Books Collection is expanding to its 5th edition. An international panel of judges will compile an honour list from all submitted titles. These wordless picture books offer a wide range of artistic expression, displaying varied and rich skills and talents from around the world. They are highly valued and are promoted by IBBY International. Selections will be announced at the upcoming International Children’s Book Fair in Bologna, Italy.
The Canadian selections are:
Le chapeau magique by Pascale Constantin (Bayard Canada), for the story’s seamless expressive and visual narrative full of animation and humour.
Helen’s Birds by Sara Cassidy and illustrated by Sophie Casson (Groundwood Books), for its strong presence of nature, its textured and warm tones poignantly expressing the story of friendship and loss.
Objet perdu by Cécile Gariépy (Éditions de la Pastèque), for its dynamic art that bounces off the page sure to engage young readers in a game of lost-and-found, time and time again.
The Paper Boat: A Refugee Story by Thao Lam (Owlkids Books), for its story of strength, courage and resilience, told with tact and sensitivity. The fine details and complex paper art compositions captivate and engage the reader.
“This international collection of wordless picture books, initiated by IBBY Italia, has been invaluable for the creation of a children’s library on the island of Lampedusa. Due to the ongoing wave of migration and the constant flow of arrivals in many countries, it continues to be important that publishing should concentrate on producing good quality books to help refugee children and their families understand the world.” [IBBY Italia]
There are three copies of the collection, one permanently housed, as part of their Art Shelf collection at the prestigious Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, another is a touring collection, and the third is found in the children’s library on the island of Lampedusa, which opened officially in 2017. We are delighted that our Canadian books will beautify far away shelves and that they’ll be shared by so many others worldwide.
This year, some of the 5th edition Silent Books Collection may be further selected to be part of a very special collection, the BOOKS ON BOARD project, started last year in Lampedusa. These are “portable sets of books to use in emergency situations on the rescue boats. By including books in these rescue missions, we hope to increase the kindness and dignity, and thereby the humanity, in the very first reception the shipwrecked refugees experience and by doing so mitigate the fear and horror that often travels with them, even when they are safe on board.” — Deborah Soria, IBBY Italy
Thank you to IBBY Canada members of the Silent Books Selection Committee: Nicholas Aumais, Iana Georgieva-Kaluba, Yvette Ghione and Theo Heras.
Silent Books Collection, 5th Edition
This Silent Books Collection is expanding to its 5th edition. An international panel of judges will compile an honour list from all submitted titles. These wordless picture books offer a wide range of artistic expression, displaying varied and rich skills and talents from around the world. They are highly valued and are promoted by IBBY International. Selections will be announced at the upcoming International Children’s Book Fair in Bologna, Italy.
The Canadian selections are:
“This international collection of wordless picture books, initiated by IBBY Italia, has been invaluable for the creation of a children’s library on the island of Lampedusa. Due to the ongoing wave of migration and the constant flow of arrivals in many countries, it continues to be important that publishing should concentrate on producing good quality books to help refugee children and their families understand the world.” [IBBY Italia]
There are three copies of the collection, one permanently housed, as part of their Art Shelf collection at the prestigious Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, another is a touring collection, and the third is found in the children’s library on the island of Lampedusa, which opened officially in 2017. We are delighted that our Canadian books will beautify far away shelves and that they’ll be shared by so many others worldwide.
This year, some of the 5th edition Silent Books Collection may be further selected to be part of a very special collection, the BOOKS ON BOARD project, started last year in Lampedusa. These are “portable sets of books to use in emergency situations on the rescue boats. By including books in these rescue missions, we hope to increase the kindness and dignity, and thereby the humanity, in the very first reception the shipwrecked refugees experience and by doing so mitigate the fear and horror that often travels with them, even when they are safe on board.” — Deborah Soria, IBBY Italy
Thank you to IBBY Canada members of the Silent Books Selection Committee: Nicholas Aumais, Iana Georgieva-Kaluba, Yvette Ghione and Theo Heras.
contributed by Mariella Bertelli, Chair, IBBY Canada Silent Books Selection Committee
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