TEHRAN – Iran’s Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults – Kanoon is celebrating the National Day of Children’s Literature in a book fair entitled “A Good Day Coming on!”

Children’s books about emotions – happiness and sadness – are currently on view at the fair and the celebration will reach its climax on July 9, which is the National Day of Children’s Literature, Kanoon announced on Sunday.

Among the books is Swedish-Dutch writer Marit Törnqist’s “The Island of Happiness”, which has been translated into Persian by Mohammad-Hadi Mohammadi. 

The book is the final part of the trilogy that Törnqist started in 1995 with “A Short Love Story” and continued in 2009 with “What Nobody Expected”. 

Together they form a kind of chronicle of her life, starting with the arduous search for love and her own path, continuing through the abyss of a hectic life to find happiness in this third part.

Dutch writer Mies Van Hout’s “Happy” also known as “Today I Am”, is also on display at the fair.

Clear, strong lines and radiant colors that seem to smile at the reader characterize Mies van Hout's drawings. In “Happy”, Van Mies shows all the emotions a young child encounters. Each double-page spread is devoted to one fish, showing a particular emotion with its name in lettering that expresses the same feeling.

Kanoon has published a Persian translation of the book by Mersedeh Ameri.

The collection also includes a Persian version of Australian writer Shaun Tan’s “The Red Tree” by Reihaneh Khorrampanahi.

When a child awakens with dark leaves drifting into her bedroom, she feels that “sometimes the day begins with nothing to look forward to, and things go from bad to worse.”

Feelings too complex for words are rendered into an imaginary landscape where the child wanders, oblivious to the glimmer of promise in the shape of a tiny red leaf.

“What Color Is Your World?” by Bob Gill, translated into Persian by Mehrak Mirabzadeh, has also been selected for the fair.

This lovingly restored 1960s classic by one of the world's most renowned graphic designers encourages children to look at the world of colors – and the world around them – in a new way. Gill’s obvious, infectious delight in line and color makes this book a visual treat for children, as well as for the adults who read picture books with them.

The exhibition also features “Ten Tears and One Embrace” by Marta Sanmamed, “Thinking Thoughts and Feeling Feelings” by Ryan Hendrix, “Sad Book” by Michael Rosen and “Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods That Make My Day” by Jamie Lee Curtis.

Dozens of board books are also on display on the sidelines of the fair, which will run until July 22.

A board book is a book whose pages are made out of thicker cardboard instead of paper. Board books are for babies and infants, and designed to be grabbed and held by them. 

Photo: A poster for the Kanoon book fair “A Good Day Coming on!”

MMS/YAW