As the family gathers around the holidays, conversations concerning what the outside world has become and our feelings always arise. As my children age, they become more vocal about issues that concern the health of our aging planet. We are excited to share a series of timely children’s books that validate anger as an agent of change, highlight the impacts of climate change and more with each of you to help with these topics.
When I See Red by Britta Teckentrup
The heroine of this beautifully illustrated story feels her anger like a storm in a dark forest. It sweeps her away, and she thunders and howls. She pours down her emotions like sheets of rain; rage surges like a wind whipping angry waves. Her anger takes her on a wild ride.
Appropriate for a wide variety of ages, this book illustrates many aspects of anger that are often hard to articulate— how overwhelming it is, how isolating, even scary. But it also shows anger to be a source of power and an agent for change. Teckentrup’s impactful, boldly colored paintings skillfully evoke the way intense anger can take us on an emotional journey, one that can be both exhausting and affirming. This beautiful tribute to one girl’s experience of anger offers readers the opportunity to make sense of, and talk about their own feelings of rage in a time when that kind of understanding is more important than ever.
Britta Teckentrup is the award-winning author and illustrator of numerous books, including Oskar Loves . . ., Oskar and Mo, Oskar Can . . ., Before I Wake Up, The Egg, Birds and Their Feathers, and The Seedling That Didn’t Want to Grow (all published by Prestel). She lives in Berlin.
The Weather Pop-Up Book by Maike Biederstaedt
In her hugely successful books Creatures of the Deep and What’s in the Egg?, as well as her enormously popular series of greeting cards for the Museum of Modern Art, Maike Biederstaedt has established herself as one of the preeminent paper artists working today. Now Biederstaedt takes book engineering to new heights as she immerses readers in five electrifying weather scenarios. As each spread unfolds, a meticulously designed landscape emerges—a freighter balances like a nutshell between high waves in the sea; a tornado takes terrifying aim at a truck trying to outrun it; a rain-spewing storm cloud towers like a skyscraper over a farm house. Nature’s delicate beauty emerges in the intricate shapes of a snowflake and in the luminous arc of a rainbow. Each page features an informative description of its weather event and the book closes with sobering commentary on the effects of climate change. A wondrous introduction to weather for budding climatologists, this is also an artistic tour de force that collectors will treasure.
Maike Biederstaedt is an illustrator and award-winning paper engineer based in Berlin. In addition to her books Creatures of the Deep and What’s in the Egg?, both published by Prestel, she is also the creator of a series of bestselling pop-up cards for the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
At the Height of the Moon edited by Alison Baverstock, Matt Cunningham, and Annette Roeder
Drawing from centuries of artistic and literary traditions from around the world, this gorgeous bedtime book pairs works of art with poems and short fiction. Divided into eight thematic sections it features dozens of double-paged spreads that families will turn to again and again as part of their bedtime routine. The carefully chosen, diverse selection of images includes works by John Singer Sargent, Georgia O’Keeffe, Utagawa Hiroshige and Henri Le Sidoner among many others, beautifully reproduced in luminous color. Accompanying these artworks are poems, mediations and short fiction that range from lighthearted verse to eerie folktales. Together these words and pictures create meaningful impressions that children will treasure and remember as they drift off to sleep—and hold onto for the rest of their lives.
Alison Baverstock is the author of many books on publishing, communication and art for children including Secrets in a Box: The Art of Joseph Cornell and 13 British Artists Children Should Know (both Prestel). She is Professor of Publishing at Kingston University, UK.
Matt Cunningham is a writer and illustrator. He teaches at Morley College and Kingston University, UK.
Annette Roeder has written and illustrated numerous books for young readers, including 13 Buildings Children Should Know (Prestel). She lives outside Munich, Germany.
The Book of Labyrinths and Mazes by Silke Vry and illustrated by Finn Dean
This brilliant book on mazes and labyrinths in history and the modern world encourages young readers to really think about why these puzzles are so appealing. Filled with photographs, drawings, artwork, illustrations, and puzzles, it takes a thematic approach to these enigmatic works. Why are we sometimes afraid to get lost—and why does the idea excite us? How do mazes and labyrinths figure in history and mythology? What can nature tell us about humankind’s obsession with lines, spirals, and patterns? Along the way children will learn about the labyrinth designed by Daedalus for King Minos in the ancient city of Crete; the mystery of the Hemet Maze Stone in southern California; and the magnificent labyrinth at the Cathedral of Chartres. They are encouraged to trace their fingers along a labyrinth to experience its soothing effect, to solve maze-related number puzzles, and to create their own mazes and labyrinths. Packed with fun facts and engaging ideas, this book will help children understand why mazes and labyrinths are so popular, while inspiring them to identify and create these fascinating puzzles in their own world.
Silke Vry, an archeologist and art historian, is the author of numerous books for children, including Trick of the Eye and Color in Art. She lives in Hamburg, Germany.
Finn Dean is an award-winning illustrator, originally from Brighton, based in London, England.
The Day Time Stopped by Flavia Ruotolo
One afternoon in Italy, a little girl is about to take a bite of her delicious popsicle when time . . . stops. At that very moment, across the planet, people and animals are frozen in action— captured by this book’s warm, quirky illustrations and clever, time-stamped captions. A penguin hatches in South Georgia; a little girl gets a haircut in Brazil; a family sits down to breakfast in California; a tiger falls asleep in Bangladesh; a boy’s football ball gets stuck in a tree in Cape Verde. The sheer enormity of planet Earth can be impossible for young kids to grasp. Here, in this playful introduction to time zones, hemispheres, and life in different climates, kids will identify with all the ordinary things going on at the same time in our extraordinary world.
Flavia Ruotolo is founder of the indie design label, Le Macchinine and the author of two previous picture books for children. She lives in Genoa, Italy.
Enter to win Prestel Junior International Prize Package below!
Prestel Junior International Prize Package includes: When I See Red by Britta Teckentrup, The Weather Pop-Up Book by Maike Biederstaedt, At the Height of the Moon edited by Alison Baverstock, Matt Cunningham, and Annette Roeder, The Book of Labyrinths and Mazes by Silke Vry and illustrated by Finn Dean and The Day Time Stopped by Flavia Ruotolo. MSRP: $99.80
Giveaway open to US/CAN/UK only. Must be 18+ or have parents permission to enter. Only one entry per household allowed. Prizing and samples provided by Prestel Junior International. Giveaway ends December 18, 2021. Visit Giveaway Terms & Conditions for additional details and rules.
I like the Weather book best.
I would also like to have I Swapped My Brother On The Internet. My grandchildren would have fun reading it!
I would love Great Rivers of the World, it looks so pretty.
Hiroshige: Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces” looks really beautiful!
I would love to read 50 Women Artists You Should Know. That would be interesting to see how many I know.
The Raising the Roof: Women Architects Who Broke Through the Glass Ceiling looks like an interesting read.