A real classic Photo: Samlaget/Jula Marie Nagelstad Title: “Oskar og eg” Author: Maria Parr and Åshild Irgens (illustrator) Genre: Children’s novel Suitable for: 5–8 years Kindness oozes from Maria Parr’s children’s books. Does that make them boring? Not at all. In “Oskar og eg”, eight-year-old Ida is the narrator. Universet is a small village in Western Norway where Ida lives with her mother, father and little brother Oskar. The days are filled with strange, challenging and funny stories, where each chapter is a finished story. Overall, it is about coping, about security, and about feeling like part of a larger community. It is easy to resort to big words when discussing Parr’s books. Her art is that through the entertaining and everyday she also gets to say something existential about life itself, quite simply. The book has clever, charming and inclusive illustrations by Åshild Irgens. Read the review of the book. Something big is happening Photo: Aschehoug/Agnete Brun Title: “Villdyr” Author: Håkon Marcus Genre: Fantasy Suitable for: 9–12 years Watch out for this one! The first book in a new fantasy series captivates from the first page. Here is everything you need in a classic fantasy: A lonely child on the verge of adolescence, a parallel world where good and evil forces fight for power, and where this child can play a decisive role. Secret portals, dangerous enemies and self-sacrificing friends. Debutant Håkon Marcus nods both to the “Harry Potter” books and “The Dark Matter”, but “Villdyr” stands enchantingly freely on its own two feet. A dark story, linguistically inventive and convincingly executed. Just waiting anxiously for the continuation. Devilish cartoon Photo: Agnethe Brun/Aschehoug Title: “Seize the birth day” Author: Kjersti Synneva Moen Genre: Comic book Suitable for: Youth Sixteen-year-old Amalie leaves home to study art at high school. It will prove to be challenging. The first half of the year is spent on self-confidence, on friendships, I would almost say on life. Here, it is about finding oneself through an almost insurmountable portion of hardship. Do not give up! Believe in yourself! shouts this devilish narrative that is moving, reflective and sharp. And wonderfully resilient drawn. Read the review of the book. Dare to face the world Photo: Aschehoug/MikrofilmFelix features Title: “Nesejakten” Author: Andreas Rand and Annette Saugestad Helland (illustrator). Genre: Picture book Suitable for: 3–6 years Dad will never go out and play with Victor. He would rather be at home. But one day, when they are playing the snap-the-nose game, Papa’s nose pops off and flutters down from the balcony. Thus begins an intense hunt for the nose, and Dad finds out that there is a lot of exciting things to discover outside the safe walls of the apartment. Annette Saugestad Helland’s burlesque illustrations are full of energy: The readers – or the little viewers – really get the feeling of being part of a dramatic and fast-paced journey. Because what can’t a nose on the run sniff its way up to? A funny story, which never leaves any doubt about the safe relationship between father and son during the wild game. A firework about the origin of words Photo: Åsmund Holien Mo/Julie Pike/Aschehoug Title: “The hair-raising secrets of words” Author: Ragnhild Holmås and Henriette T. Osnes (illustrator) Genre: Nonfiction Suitable for: 8–12 years This is the funnest book about language I have read for a long time. Ragnhild Holmås and illustrator Henriette T. Osnes have so far found the tone in a whimsical book about how words arise and where they come from. The book is apparently created according to the desire principle, where one association leads to the next. But there is some order in the chaos; the words group into areas such as animals, sports, humor or swearing. For the more structured reader, there is a useful index at the back of the book. Educational, entertaining and inclusive. A super non-fiction book for curious readers. Read the review of the book. We belong together Photo: Agnete Brun/Samlaget Title: “Badesommar” Author: Ruth Lillegraven and Mari Kanstad Johnsen (illustrator) Genre: Book of poems Suitable for: 6 years and up That old people have also been children once, and that those who are children once will grow up, it is beautifully portrayed in this collection of poems, where all the poems form one long story. It’s about belonging, but also about achieving. The first-person narrator in the book is soon the only one in the class who cannot swim. How can grandmother, who is old and will soon die, contribute to making the summer a real bathing summer? Poems for children can be silly verses and funny rules, or they can be subtle philosophy like here. Both parts are good. Mari Kanstad Johnsen lifts the book with her few, but strongly sensuous illustrations. Read the review of the book. Trigger the sense of justice Photo: Julie Pike/Gyldendal Title: “Cash money” Author: Arne Svingen Genre: Novel Suitable for: 9–12 years More and more books for children who are old enough to read for themselves focus on catchy illustrations, to get the weakest readers with. That’s all well and good, but stronger readers must also get their share. Arne Svingen is one of Norway’s most prolific and most widely read authors of children’s books. He writes suspense books, easy-to-read humor books, hard-hitting young adult novels and therefore really good children’s books that often thematize the differences between those who have a lot and those who have little. With “Cash Money”, he has delivered a suggestive story about the rich West End boy who becomes destitute in no time, when his financial acrobat of a father loses everything. Where the good moral that true friendship means more than bought ones and that good things are meant to be shared can mostly be made for an adult reader, I have no doubt that the message resonates with the target group. Hello! I am a literary critic at news, and I write about books for both children and adults. Among the really good children’s books I’ve read lately are “Oskar og eg” by Maria Parr or “Badesommar” by Ruth Lillegraven.
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Recommended children’s books for Christmas – Reviews and recommendations
