The Book, Cat, & Cat Book Lovers Almanac

of historical trivia regarding books, cats, and other animals. Actually this blog has evolved so that it is described better as a blog about cats in history and culture. And we take as a theme the advice of Aldous Huxley: If you want to be a writer, get some cats. Don't forget to see the archived articles linked at the bottom of the page.

March 6, 2017

March 6, 1972

When the Swedish governmet in 2002 created the Astrid Lindgren Memorial award for children's literature, it became the biggest prize in this category. Asrid Lindgren (1907-2002) was a world famous children's author. The eponymous award, when Marisol Misenta (March 6, 1972) received it in 2013, was the equivalent of $770,000 dollars. Misenta is the Argentinian writer and illustrator, whose most recent work is Daytime Visions: An Alphabet (2016)

According to the ALMA website

The award laureates are chosen by a jury with broad expertise in international children’s and young adult literature, reading promotion and children’s rights. The 12 members include authors, literary critics, scholars, illustrators and librarians. One member represents Astrid Lindgren's family.


The same site says of Misenta (or ISOL as the artist is known)

Isol creates picturebooks from the eye level of the child. Her pictures vibrate with energy and explosive emotions. With a restrained palette and ever-innovative pictorial solutions, she shifts ingrained perspectives and pushes the boundaries of the picturebook medium. Taking children’s clear view of the world as her starting point, she addresses their questions with forceful artistic expression and offers open answers. With liberating humour and levity, she also deals with the darker aspects of existence....

Isol was born Marisol Misenta in Buenos Aires in 1972. She began her artistic education at the Escuela Nacional de Belles Artes, “Rogelio Yrurtia”, studying to be an art teacher, followed by a couple of years at the Academy of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires.

Isol is the writer and illustrator of about 10 published titles and has illustrated a similar number of published works by other authors. She made her debut in 1997 with
Vida de perros, the story of a little boy who sees clear similarities between himself and his dog. ....

The stories are humorous with surprising twists, occasionally philosophical and always subtle. Isol is on the children’s side, seeing the world through their eyes and exposing the absurdities of the adult world.
El Globo (2002) describes an angry, loud-mouthed mother who is transformed into a balloon. In Petit, el monstruo (2007), a child tries to figure out why his behaviour is considered praiseworthy on one occasion but cause for scolding on another.

Isol is constantly exploring new formats and forms for the books themselves.
Tener un patito es útil (2007) can be read from two directions with two different results: one story about what a boy can use a duck for, and another story showing what a duck can use a boy for. Nocturno (2011) is a beautiful introduction to the night’s dreams, printed in fluorescent colours that are best enjoyed in the dark...

From Daytime Visions: An Alphabet





The citation notes that:

Her long-standing collaboration with Argentinian poet Jorge Luján has produced a large number of books where Isol, through her illustrations, is the story’s co-author rather than an illustrator in the conventional sense. Her works have been published in some 20 countries.

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