TEHRAN – The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) has selected three Iranian books for its Honor List 2020.

“Monster’s Shadow”, “An Umbrella with White Butterflies” and “They All Saw a Cat” along with 176 other books from across the world were on the IBBY Honor List 2020 that was announced during the 37th IBBY Congress in Moscow on Sunday.

The congress was originally to be held last September, but due to the pandemic, it was postponed to 10-12 September 2021.

“Monster’s Shadow” (“Saye-ye Hayula”) written by Abbas Jahangirian was selected for its writing. In this story, the theme of the extinction of the Iranian tiger is narrated in simple yet sensitive language using elements of other well-known stories. 

Maral and her brother Taymaz are going to their father’s office in the forest park of Golestan to visit and learn about the different animals. They also learn about forest keepers’ difficulties, about friendship between human and animals, cultural barriers and differences, and how to solve the problems. 

The book has been published by the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults.

“An Umbrella with White Butterflies” (“Chatri Ba Parvaneha-ye Sefid”) has been selected for its illustrations by Ghazaleh Bigdelu.

Written by Farhad Hassanzadeh, the story has been published by Tuti Books. The text and the creative illustrations of this book bond together to provide realistic images of contemporary Tehran.

There are two hours left before the arrival of the New Year, Noruz, and everyone is trying to finish up their last minute errands amid the hustle and bustle of cars in the street and people carrying goldfish home for their Haft-Seen tables. 

Ardalan wants to get his hair cut. Atusa is ringing the doorbell at the seamstress to pick up her new dress. The florist’s son and daughter walk down the alley to bypass the crowds and get home to their Haft-Seen table in time for the New Year festivities.

Written and illustrated by American author Brendan Wenzel, “They All Saw a Cat” (“Hame-ye Anha Yek Gorbeh Didand”) has been picked for its Persian translation by Keyvan Abidi Ashtiani.

This picture book published by Tuti Books explores what a cat might look like from the point of view of various animals: a dog, a fox, a fish, a mouse, a bee, a bird, a flea, a snake, a skunk, a worm, a bat and a child. 

Throughout the story, children learn to take on different perspectives and see the cat from the animals’ points of view. Many questions are raised for the readers compelling them to come up with the answers. The artistic and eye catching illustrations in the story celebrate observation, curiosity, and imagination.

The IBBY Honor List is a biennial selection of outstanding, recently published books, honoring writers, illustrators and translators from IBBY member countries. 

The list is one of the most widespread and effective ways of furthering IBBY’s objective of encouraging international understanding through children’s literature.

Photo: This combination photo shows the front covers of the Iranian books selected for the IBBY Honor List 2020.

MMS/YAW