We were delighted to learn that the title ‘Gutenachtgeschichten für Celeste’ by Nikolaus Heidelbach and Ole Könnecke (Hanser) has been chosen as the best comic book for early readers by the Bologna Children’s Book Fair: congratulations!
What the jury said:
“The book presents a very creative collaboration of two artists with very different styles, one very cartoony and one closer to fine illustration. A little girl wants her brother to tell her scary bedtime stories. He doesn’t succeed even after many tries, so she takes the lead with unexpected results. Each spread has a series of comic panels telling the story, often presented very humorously, and a page with beautiful and spooky illustrations depicting dragons, bats, man-eating plants, and other fantastic creatures. Ole Könnecke comics pages show the brother and sister interacting in a very natural and humorous manner, with the sister being very feisty; at the same time, Heidelbach’s illustrations evoke traditional fairy tale monsters, reminding Brothers Grimm’s scary tales. It is a good book for parents to read with their children at bedtime, encouraging both to create their own scary stories.”
From minute one we loved this book at the agency, so we find the award very well deserved and hopefully it will help to see it translated into many territories.