Sweden

The Swedish section of IBBY was established in 1956 under the name Internationella Ungdomsboksrådet, IUR (International Youth Book Council). In 1967 it joined with the Comics Committee, an organisation established in 1953 with similar aims, to form the Children and Youth Book Council, now called IBBY Sweden.

IBBY Sweden is committed to the promotion of Swedish children’s literature abroad, as well as the introduction of foreign literature in Sweden. Our ambition is to build bridges between peoples and countries through children’s literature. Members of IBBY Sweden are authors, illustrators, librarians and publishers and others concerned with children’s and youth literature.

Activities

Awards

The Gulliver Prize is IBBY Sweden’s own prize established by the Child and Youth Book Council in 1969. It is awarded every year to a person “who by work of critical, theoretical or practical character has significantly contributed to advance understanding of child and youth literature”. The prize consists of a diploma and a sum of money.

The Peter Pan Prize was established in 2000 by IBBY Sweden and the Göteborg Book Fair. The prize is awarded annually to a book for children or young adults of high quality in both literary and subject terms, satisfying one or more of the following criteria:

• by an author previously unpublished or little known in Sweden
• from a country, language group or culture with limited representation in Sweden
• with content concerning children or young adults in less familiar countries and cultures less familiar to Swedish readers

Peter Pan's Silver Stars awarded annually according to the same criteria as the Peter Pan Award. The prize consists of a diploma for the author, illustrator, translator and for the Swedish publisher.