Book Island: A view from a Children’s Librarian

Ed Zaghini

Being a children’s librarian working in a public library, one of my main duties is to promote new books and the enjoyment of reading among young readers, highlighting and bringing to their attention newly published titles. In this respect, Book Island’s books have always been a joy to promote due to their uniqueness, originality and high artistic merits.

This independent picture book publishing house currently based in Bristol is the brainchild of linguist and translator Greet Pauwelijn who grew up in Flanders, Belgium. The company was originally set up in 2012.

One of the most plausible aspects of this small publishing house is the ability to hand pick the best European picture books for children and to make them available to the English-speaking world.  Each of the 28 titles already published on their list has been carefully selected for its artistic and literary qualities.

With a list of award-winning authors and illustrators from a variety of countries like Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Canada to mention just a few, there will surely be a book to cater for the taste of each reader.

It would be impossible here to highlight all the wonderful titles on their list, but worth mentioning are outstanding titles like Maia and What Matters by Belgian author Tina Mortier and strikingly illustrated by Flemish illustrator Kaatje Vermeire, translated by well-known Australian author David Colmer. Each time I see this book in the library where I work I can’t stop wondering why it has not yet received a British Award since it was first published. It is a striking book that portrays the sentimental relationship between a young girl and her mentally deteriorating grandmother, and whose artistic attributes are outstanding. For me, this has to be one of the best books published in recent years.

The Bird Within Me written and illustrated by Sara Lundberg and translated by E. J Epstein is a book based on the paintings, letters and diaries of the Swedish artist Berta Hansson (1910–1994). The book was shortlisted for the prestigious Kate Greenaway Award 2021. I have been taking part in a monthly picture book discussion group organised by the South East Region of the CILIP Youth Libraries Group and this title was a strong favourite among my fellow librarians in the group.

Another two titles that deserve mentioning for their strong female roles are Sir Mouse to the Rescue by Dirk Nieland featuring a female mouse knight with a strong attitude and Witchfairy by Brigitte Minne which introduces Rosemary, a young girl who rebels

against her mother’s will and becomes a witch.
In the past, there was a tendency in libraries to disregard translated and big format books. Fortunately, this trend has dramatically changed to the opposite in recent years as librarians particularly welcome titles from other countries and the oversize version do not seem to be a major issue. Many publishers today produce large format titles. These types of books are particularly welcomed in libraries where they can be effectively displayed to catch the eye and attention of borrowers and be used effectively for activities such as story-time and school visits.

For instance, The Golden Cage by Anna Castagnoli and magnificently illustrated by Carll Cneut can only be enjoyed on a large scale in order to fully appreciate its impeccable design. The same argument could be applied also to Ready, Steady, School! by Marianne Dubuc where the very busy world with so many characters can be better savoured only on a bigger scale.

Today more than ever we need books such as those published by Book Island if we don’t want to become insular and detached from the rest of the world. Book Island’s books are different, and this is a quality that should be appreciated and celebrated and that makes them stand out among the many children’s books published every year. They are a spectacular window to an eclectic variety of art forms and stories from abroad and one of the few opportunities for young readers to explore other themes, genres, cultures and artistic styles that will broaden their horizons, experience, curiosity and knowledge.

As an active member of Outside in World (a charity that promotes children’s literature in translation), we are grateful to Book Island for publishing a wide range of titles from other European countries. We only hope that this excellent company will continue to grow so that we can all benefit from the enjoyment of books from other cultures.

Part of this article was published in Askews and Holts’ newsletter, November 2021.

For more information about Book Island visit their website 

Ed Zaghini is a Children’s Librarian working at Beckenham Library, Bromley and is also a Co-Founder of Outside in World