The sea that no longer likes
American crime writer Mickey Spillane started out as a comic book writer for Captain America and Batman.
He was a “living cannonball” for the circus, racing driver, treasure hunter, film actor - and at times probably also for the FBI.
Spillane became known through the adventures of the private detective Mike Hammer, who he invented: Over 200 million copies of these crime novels were sold worldwide.
But he also wrote a children's book: In “The day on which the sea disappeared” the author processed an experience of nature.
It was published in 1979 and received the Junior Literary Guild Award.
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Haynes, Sam and Jago: "The day on which the sea disappeared", Knesebeck, 40 pages, 14 euros
The story now appeared as a picture book.
It revolves around little Jack, who loves the sea and sunrises that glitter in it.
But when he was picnicking with his father in their boat at sea, the boy accidentally dropped a straw into the water.
The next day the sea is gone.
Jack goes to look for it - but finds only mountains of plastic waste.
It wasn't until he rescued a mermaid and pulled his lost drinking straw out of the nose of a sea turtle that the water miraculously came back.
Jack promises to use as little plastic as possible and to recycle everything that can be recycled.
So this environmental fairy tale ends well again.
But it doesn't end without suggestions on how to avoid marine pollution.
Fate is "in the hands of children like you".
(Haynes, Sam and Jago: "The day on which the sea disappeared", Knesebeck, 40 pages, 14 euros)
Fun fair of cuddly toys
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Fox and rabbit are guaranteed not to say goodnight here: the ring is clear for the animals of the “Midnight Fair”.
In this picture book there is an atmosphere like in Tim Burton's cinema magic "Dumbo" or "Alice in Wonderland".
Cut.
It is dark.
Many different pairs of eyes shine.
The animals of the forest wait, sheltered behind the trees.
Longing to look at the fair, where people bustle during the day.
The guard is finally leaving.
The raccoons turn on the electricity.
Sterer, Gideon and Di Giorgio, Mariachiara: “Fair at midnight”, Bohem Verlag, 32 pages, 16.95 euros
A different kind of party takes place under the glow of hundreds of lightbulbs: animals enjoy themselves like humans - ride the ghost train and the chain carousel.
Popcorn flying through the air has seldom been painted so beautifully.
In the end, the animals clean everything up, pay with tree fruits and go back to their forest satisfied.
The special thing about this book are the warm, bright colors and the wonderful, loving drawings.
The illustrator Mariachiara Di Giorgio already gained attention through the working crocodile in "Krokodrillo".
The American author Gideon Sterer grew up in the middle of the forest with his family who ran a small zoo.
No wonder he manages to give this fantastic night a fairytale credibility.
(Sterer, Gideon and Di Giorgio, Mariachiara: “Fair at midnight”, Bohem Verlag, 32 pages, 16.95 euros)
Guide to a visit to earth
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What does a being from space need to know about the earth?
The idea for this travel guide for the blue planet came to Sophie Blackall in the Himalayas.
It became a call to take care of our earth - together.
Many children contributed their ideas.
The well-traveled Quinn writes the letter to the alien on her behalf.
Because he answered Blackall's question about what he would offer aliens to eat: "Mashed potatoes - because we don't know whether they have teeth." At the same time as they talked about the topic, he drew 17 planets and their inhabitants.
Blackall, Sophie: “Dear visitor from space”, Nordsüd Verlag, 80 pages, 18 euros
It is a picture book in the classic sense: just as a child would explain the world to other children, it also explains it to a possible visitor from space.
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“There is a lot that we don't know.
For example, where we were before we were born.
Or where we go when we die.
But right now we live here, all together on this wonderful planet.
If you come to us, you can live in my room. ”(Blackall, Sophie:“ Dear visitor from space ”, Nordsüd Verlag, 80 pages, 18 euros)
Around the world on a motorcycle and a silk scarf
Even Paris can get too small for you.
Anne-France Dautheville was at least like that.
Therefore, in 1973, she became the first woman to circumnavigate the world alone on a motorcycle: Canada, Alaska, Japan, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, Germany and home.
A travel route that reads as comprehensibly as a bookable last-minute flight to Mars and Venus in the midst of the Corona crisis.
Novesky, Amy and Morstad, Julie: “The girl on the motorcycle”, Zuckersüß Verlag, 54 pages, 24.90 euros
“She found beauty and good people wherever she was.
And she traveled with effortless style, wore biker boots and leather jacket, a helmet and a silk scarf, her long hair down, her eyes always made up, ”describes Amy Novesky.
The author fell in love with the story and met Anne-France Dautheville personally.
Julie Morstad has illustrated the details in simple beauty, fitting in the style of the seventies.
In keeping with Novesky and Dautheville's creed.
"The world is beautiful and good." (Novesky, Amy and Morstad, Julie: "The girl on the motorcycle", Zuckersüß Verlag, 54 pages, 24.90 euros)
The fate of the Euro orphans
Many hundreds of thousands of children are orphans - but their parents are alive and do not deny their children: They are Eastern European labor emigrants.
The picture book “Zug der Fisch” (Zug of the Fish) shows the fate of those left behind in a sensitive and haunting manner.
Marika, for example, lives with her grandmother in a wooden house whose roof is already raining.
The only warm thing in your house is a large, clay-plastered stove on which children, cats and grandmothers sleep.
The girl sells blueberries to make money and wants to read Harry Potter one day.
Her mother's letters from Italy are her whole treasure.
Once again, she sends money at Christmas instead of coming home herself.
Black, Yaroslava and Jänichen, Ulrike: “Train of the Fish”, Carlsen Verlag, 32 pages, 18 euros
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Poetically, the book shows how much the children want their parents back instead of the banknotes.
It reflects their conflict: between, as the journalist Keno Verseck describes it, the great longing for their parents and the feeling of having to be grateful to them.
(Black, Yaroslava and Jänichen, Ulrike: "Train of the Fish", Carlsen Verlag, 32 pages, 18 euros)
Theory of relativity of a mouse
Anyone who held “Lindbergh” in their hands in 2014 - WELT reported - knew that this would not be Torben Kuhlmann's only project.
Meanwhile, Kuhlmann is a brand of its own.
"Armstrong" and "Edison" are out.
All three bestsellers - translated into 30 languages.
His latest work is called "Einstein".
Again the little mouse embarks on a fantastic journey, this time through space and time - the rodent goes science fiction.
The pictures, painted like photos, cast a spell and history on the viewer as usual.
Kuhlmann, Torben: "Einstein", Nordsüd Verlag, 22 euros, 128 pages
This effortlessly tells how the little animal was able to give the great scientist the right idea to help her with a time machine.
If you want to know what a cheese festival has to do with Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, you have to read this book.
(Kuhlmann, Torben: "Einstein", Nordsüd Verlag, 22 euros, 128 pages)
Personnel development in a different way
This picture book gives you self-confidence: Before the little dog shows up, hardly anything goes in the “Grand Hotel Bellvue”.
After his parents forget him there, he turns out to be a terrific HR manager.
Jonas, Hendrik: "Grand Hotel Bellvue", Tulipan Verlag, 56 pages, 16 euros
The little dog convinces the hotel manager that the employees should swap jobs: everyone now does what he or she does best.
In this way, the little dog saves a hotel and shows his parents at the same time that he is much more grown up than they think.
Hendrik Jonas studied graphic design and illustration in Augsburg and Barcelona.
In “Grand Hotel Bellvue” he manages to capture the atmosphere of an aging, but amiable hotel and its residents, not just through drawings and collages.
He gives the golden advice for choosing a career - doing what you do best.
(Jonas, Hendrik: "Grand Hotel Bellvue", Tulipan Verlag, 56 pages, 16 euros)
Sofa trip through eight national parks
Anyone who has read this book knows the length of a sequoia tree about national parks.
The knowledge is served as a mixture between comic and lexicon - a comicon.
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Bison Cuba and Squirrel Ula visit eight national parks.
A mysterious letter is your guide.
You travel from Poland to the USA via Namibia and Greenland to Indonesia.
The friends encounter rare animals and plants.
Spectacular natural phenomena are also explained.
Mizielinska, Aleksandra, Mizielinski, Daniel and Weiler, Thomas: “On to Yellowstone!”, Moritz Verlag, 128 pages, 29 euros
Whether the mud pots in Yellowstone or the polar nights in Greenland - this book invites you to leaf through it.
With its large filigree drawings, it not only attracts attention visually, but also captivates with a lot of small information.
Its sturdy paper is a pleasure to touch.
(Mizielinska, Aleksandra, Mizielinski, Daniel and Weiler, Thomas: "On to Yellowstone!", Moritz Verlag, 128 pages, 29 euros)
What papa can put into paper
Many families can't be together this Christmas because of Covid-19.
"My Papa - The Jack of All Trades" is a girl's praise and homage to her papa.
(It is written and illustrated, that should also be recorded here - two men.)
Papa in the book patted up, pardon me repairing, not only bicycle tubes but also the family toaster and the neighbor's cuckoo clock.
“My papa is now famous in our neighborhood.
Everyone says that it is incredibly good! ”The nice thing is that the book is illustrated as if it were right next to the father's workbench.
Colors are applied over a large area or run, circles are cut out as a collage like waste wood.
There is work going on here.
“It's just as messy as my room.
But my papa can do that. "
Barroux, Stephane and Illmann, Andreas: "My Papa - The All-Rounder", Schaltzeit Verlag, 28 pages, 15.70 euros
In times of the Corona crisis, this book is a consolation, appreciation and motivation at the same time.
Adjectives for this book?
Careful, chaotic, loving, caring and ironic - just family.
And dad?
He not only repairs - he and his daughter end up building a soap box for both of them.
(Barroux, Stephane and Illmann, Andreas: "My Papa - The All-Rounder", Schaltzeit Verlag, 28 pages, 15.70 euros)
Visiting the "terrible lizards"
Even the cover of "Hidden World of Dinosaurs" is an eye catcher.
Two children, Julian and Enid, take the readers to a dinosaur museum.
But before the learners can immerse themselves in these worlds with their VR glasses, they receive a crash course on the subject of the origins of the earth.
Küntzel, Karolin and Tempesta, Franco: "Hidden World of Dinosaurs", Sophie Verlag, 96 pages, 18 euros
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That is one of the book's strengths: it lies in the many interesting details that the authors have put together and selected.
At the beginning, the geological ages are explained - and at the end, traffic signs next to dinosaurs show how fast they could run.
When Enid and Julian have their say and share their thoughts, it also stimulates the readers to think.
You are not sitting alone in front of the book - it is carried out.
The lifelike-looking illustrations and the space that is left for them also contribute to the fact that the viewer can marvel in peace.
(Küntzel, Karolin and Tempesta, Franco: "Hidden World of Dinosaurs", Sophie Verlag, 96 pages, 18 euros)