Participants: Doris Breitmoser, Katja Wiebe, Liz Page, Gaja Kos
Moderator: Tina Bilban
Summary:
The panel will discuss how to help parents and children to navigate in a huge sea of the yearly published new books for children.
Description:
Experts in the field are often amazed by the quality and diversity of contemporary children's literature. But for parents, teachers, librarians and young readers, these gems are often hard to find among all the children’s books published each year. Can expert reviews, recommendations and awards, national as well as international, provide guidance? Who is their main target audience: young readers, their parents, teachers and librarians, or even publishers, editors and artists? How successful are they in appreciating and promoting quality children's literature, its diversity or originality? Are their recommendations merely local or can they be heard across borders? How are different juries structured? What is the role of (mass) media in promoting nominated and award-winning books?
Doris Breitmoser (Germany) holds MA in International Cultural and Business Studies and is the managing director of Arbeitskreis für Jugendliteratur (Assosciation for Children’s Literature) and co-editor of the magazine "JuLit".
Katja Wiebe works as an editor for Central and Eastern European languages at the International Youth Library in Munich.
Gaja Kos is a literary critic, editor, writer and translator, focusing mainly on children's literature.
Liz Page was a founding member of the Basel intercultural children’s library JuKiBu. She joined IBBY in 1997 and in 2009, was appointed its Executive Director. Liz retired in 2022 and is currently the Hans Christian Andersen Jury President.
Tina Bilban is a writer, editor, literary critic and researcher (New Review Institute). She is President of the Slovenian Section of IBBY and a member of the IBBY Executive Committee.