It’s raining and Toni has made herself comfortable in her reading chair and is looking forward to a day of reading. But when you’re friends with a dragon named Fred, you’re in for a surprise. Fred gets sausages and lots of coffee, but then he needs a toilet! Julie Völk has staged this absurd situation in a wonderfully funny way in a series of images, and the viewer follows Fred’s futile attempts to relieve himself with amusement. But even when they leave the house, and there are many options, the style-conscious dragon refuses. But gradually it’s getting urgent, and only one thing helps: Fred flies with Toni and the dog on his back to Drachenland to finally use the appropriate “place”, a pagoda! After this dramatic adventure, which Julie Völk tells with little text and delicate, atmospheric watercolor pictures, Toni can finally enjoy her cozy rainy day at home. (from 3 years)
Julie Völk: Dragon Rain Days. Gerstenberg 2022. 48 pages. 18 euros.
Mrs. Susett’s yellow house stands in the middle of an old wooden bridge that crosses a wide river. In her workshop she builds and plays all kinds of flutes, much to the displeasure of her neighbors. When she rescues a baby floating in a basket on the river, a new life begins for Mrs. Susett. Because Bastian, as she called her foundling, turns out to be a great animal lover, and more and more animals fill the house. “Quiet!” the neighbors scolded, and the king ordered Mrs. Susett to move out. Luckily, Bastian’s love of animals proves to be his salvation, and a lost whale takes the yellow house and its occupants on his back on an adventurous journey to a place where Mrs. Susett is welcome with her flute and her animals.
With her poetic, atmospheric pictures, Britta Teckentrup gives this fairy tale a colorful and beautiful backdrop. (from 4 years)
Salah Naoura/ Britta Teckentrup: Ms. Susett’s wondrous journey. Tulipan 2022. 32 pages. 16 euros
Birds come here! I’m still completely empty,” calls out a young cage, who doesn’t yet know that birds hate cages. When a curious bird hops into the cage from afar, the two have to flee from the cat. Mehrdad Zaeri’s dramatic images depress the mood of the story (from 4 years)
Andrea Hensgen / Mehrdad Zaeri: A cage went looking for a bird. Knesebeck 2022. 40 pages, 15 euros