Age range 11+

Anete Shāpa. Light bulb. Riga: Jānis Rozes apgāds, 2020.

This is the story of the sea. About mysterious creatures and savage robbers. About the Admiral's Black House, where people say a monster lives. For a gray lighthouse on a small island in the sea and for Lampiņa - a lame lighthouse is watched by a daughter who climbs up to the lighthouse tower every night to light up. For a stormy night, when the matches are over and everything goes wrong. But mostly for courage and self-denial, for tremendous inner strength and the ability to do more than you ever expected.

"Lampina" is an unforgettable literary adventure, a novel that has few peers in terms of fantasy scope and masterful performance. It seems to continue Hans Christian Andersen's well-known tale of the little mermaid, raising many important questions that occupy the mind and soul long after reading the book. And this book is definitely not just for children - it will thrill and delight adult readers as well. In 2019, "Lampiņa" was staged in a theater in the Netherlands, and a television series is planned based on the book.

Annet Schaap (b. 1965) is a prominent illustrator of Dutch children's books. She graduated from the Kampen School of Art and the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague, has been active in book art since 1988 and has illustrated about two hundred books, including by Astrid Lindgren, Christine Nestlinger, Jacques Frances and other world-famous writers. "Lampina" ("Lampje", 2017) is her debut in literature, and very bright. The book, for which she has also drawn illustrations, has already been translated into English, German, French and several other languages. It has won several major Dutch literary awards, including the Gouden Griffel Award for Best Children's Novel.


 

Dzintars Tilaks . Horror. Riga: Zvaigzne ABC, 2020.

Charlotte Ausma has two words and two big problems - small stature and math. If you can still "fight" with mathematics, stretching is much more difficult.

Our little flaws… They sometimes make us vulnerable and vulnerable, because we almost always have to think about them. Is it worth worrying about being different?

Charlotte also thinks, worries and looks for solutions, but in the end it becomes funny and probably unnecessary.
As the nickname Horror originates, it is probably not difficult to guess. But to find out how Charlotte's life is changing, you can only find out when you read Amber Tilak's new book.

The school age novel - that's what Dzintars Tilaks called this book, hoping that it will be not only a good read for young readers, but also a reason to think and not "catch the Greek", looking at yourself from the sidelines.

"Horror" is the fifteenth book by Dzintars Tilaks and one of the six newest books by readers, with illustrations by the author himself.


 

Ulfs Starks. Refugees. Riga: Big and small, 2020.

There is a grandfather's house on Sherry Island, where his grandson has spent many nice summer holidays. But the house on the rock is now empty because my grandmother is dead and my grandfather is in the hospital.

One jar of grandmother's lingonberry is still waiting in the basement of their home, and only her grandson can help the old, harsh husband both for the last time in his real life and prepare to meet his grandmother again and find the right words for his love. It is difficult for a boy to hide his daring flight from the hospital, lying to his parents, to answer the question of whether a person really goes to heaven after death, but he manages to make a clear end to his grandfather's life.

The painful theme of illness, old age and leaving, in which people's mutual love brings light, is very relevant in today's tense situation, where both adults and children have to think about these issues. Ulf Stark knows how to talk about it in an ingeniously simple but precise way and in a trusting intonation.

Critics have compared Ulfa Stark's work to Charlie Chaplin's films: the author uses laughter to tell of suffering and allows for moments of true joy. Kitty Cruzer's illustrations have captured the painful ambiguity of the text. The book, together with Krauzer's heartfelt and intense illustrations, is emotionally multi-layered - at the same time beautiful, fun and very painful.

Significant Swedish writer Ulf Stark (Stark, Ulf, 1944-2017) book "on the run" (Rymlingarna) with the artist, Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner Krauzers Kitty (Kitty Crowther) illustrations. The book has been translated from Swedish by Jolanta Pētersone.


 

Sarah Peniparker. Paks.Riga: Zvaigzne ABC, 2020.

Peter and Paks have been inseparable since the boy rescued the wasp and taken home. But one day the unforeseen happens: Peter's father goes to war and makes a fox run wild.

Arriving at his grandfather's home three hundred miles away, Peter realizes that he is not where he should be - next to Paks. Encouraged by love, trust and sadness, the boy goes on his way to find a fox and the two are together again.

Meanwhile, Paks is constantly waiting for his boy, embarking on various adventures and discovering many new things…

An emotional message about the close connection between a boy and an animal and about the evil that war does on all living things is a story that will provoke reflection in both children and adults.

Translated from English by Laura Dreiže.


 

Maris Rungulis. Blood rain. Riga: Big and small, 2020.

Writer Māris Rungulis has been collecting and publishing stories of ghosts, horrors and jokes spread among children since the mid-1980s. He has used these contemporary folklore scripts to write The Walk in the City of the Dead (2016), The Three Deaths of Martin (2018) and The Rain of Blood.

In the final book of the trilogy, The Rain of Blood, the teacher involves the children in creating a school journal. Sixth graders decide to put stories about their neighborhood in the magazine. It turns out that the teacher of their class, whose ghost story evening takes place at home, has also experienced terrible events. Can snails really eat humans? Why is there a rain of blood pouring from the ceiling of the chemistry cabinet, to which a ghost train is running on the tracks every night? A ghost in a letter reveals his secret to them ...

The artist of the book is Christian Brecht.


Inga Žolude. For the first time on Earth. Riga: Big and small, 2020.

The protagonist of the book is a boy who looks like his classmates on the outside, but only on the outside: both he and his parents are on a research mission on Earth. His main object of research is friendship with two children on Earth, with whom he forms an alliance and reveals to them the world of stars. Can an alien understand what a friendship is?
An alien's initially unfamiliar phenomenon - friendship, gradually develops into a personal emotional need, but his Zemian friends discover the existence of otherness, other channels of information, expand their perceptions of the world and their existence in a broader context. Paradoxically, it is the relationship with an alien who only learns and does not really understand the friendship of the Earthlings that also gives them a better understanding of what friendship is and why it is important.
Artist - Krišs Salmanis.