Hans Christian Andersen Medal Finalists Announced

Posted on March 17, 2012

Five authors and five illustrators have been selected for the 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Award. The award is given biennially by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) to a living author and illustrator whose complete works have made lasting contributions to children's literature. The winners will be announced on Monday, March 19th at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. Here are the author and illustrator finalists with descriptions from the judges:

Five Short-listed Authors

• Maria Teresa Andruetto from Argentina is a master of creating sensitive books, which are deep and poetic and relate to a great variety of topics.
• Paul Fleischman from the USA makes an innovative and unique contribution to the literature for children. The jury especially appreciated his ability to create characters and to integrate music in his work.
• Bart Moeyaert from Belgium presents subtle depictions of strong characters by evoking poetical atmospheres using a language that combines both humor and seriousness.
• Jean-Claude Mourlevat from France writes for children and teenagers on many different levels, from poetic prose to fantasy or to realism; music is a constant source of inspiration for him.
• Bianca Pitzorno from Italy uses imaginative and diverse texts to share complicity with her readers, using humor and a skillful construction of characters.

• Mohammad Ali Beniasadi from Iran uses different techniques, colour and a subtle sense of humour in his work.
• John Burningham from the UK uses delicate irony mixed with innocence and high seriousness that with his use of line and color, creates an intimacy with the reader.
• Roger Mello from Brazil tells the reader about popular culture, old legends and the traditions of Brazil by his skillful use of expressing emotions by using brilliant colors and images that are full of meaning.
• Peter S�s from the Czech Republic has an extraordinary originality and uses his powerful imagination to create complex and well-documented stories using different design and artistic techniques.
• Javier Zabala from Spain has the great ability to transform graphical language into narrative signs through complex, intuitive and detailed representations.