Bookbird 3 / 2017

Bookbird 55.3 (2017) Nonfiction for Children

In the present issue of Bookbird there are two texts on the topic of nonfiction for children: a Letter from Tina Bilban about Slovenian nonfiction and an interview with Candace Fleming by Teri Suico about the art and craft of nonfiction. When we advertised a call for a special nonfiction issue of Bookbird, I imagined that we would get a huge response from writers since it is a major publishing genre for children and youth. But it was not to be. However, these two articles eloquently show the relevance of the topic and the centrality of nonfiction as a form of writing for children and youth. 

Two of the feature articles in this issue deal with Latin American themes. We have Carol Brochin and Carmen Medina’s discussion of transnationalism in “Latinx” children’s literature and Cristina Rhodes’ analysis of Bettina Restrepo’s Illegal, which focuses on female empowerment 
and “undocumented border crossing.” These two texts are indicative of the rise of critical articles in English on Latin American children’s literature. 

Among the feature articles, we also find a
 study of the Finnish translation of Peter Rabbit. Furthermore, Anna Kerchy has contributed a review essay on several recent studies of Lewis Carroll and his Alice books. And Marloes Robijn provides a description of The Nordic House in Reykjavik in the section “Children & Their Books”; her article has the subheading: “A House with a Big Heart for Children and Literature.” Finally, Sunjidmaa Jamba has contributed an interview with Mongolian writer Dashondog Jamba, under the title “I am a Writer on the Nomadic Journey.” Sadly, Dashondog Jamba passed away while this issue was in preparation, which increases the poignancy and relevance of the interview. An obituary, penned by Liz Page, of this extraordinary writer, can moreover be found in the Focus IBBY-Section. 

The cover illustration is by Linda Bondestam (Finland) and taken from Djur som ingen sett (Animals Seen by No-one), written by Ulf Stark, who also, sadly passed away recently. Both he and Dashondog Jamba are nominees for the HC Andersen Award 2018.