Swedish Picture Book of the Year

Djur som ingen sett utom vi (Animals No One Has Seen Except Us) has been named the best Swedish picture book in 2016 and has been awarded the national Snöbollen (The Snowball) prize. Author Ulf Stark and illustrator Linda Bondestam will be presented with the prize in March 2017 during Umeå's international literary festival, Littfest. Pictures from the book is showcased in an exhibition at Bildmuseet.

There are unseen animals under the seas,
On the land and in the trees.
Don't disturb them please!

But if you're quiet and open your ears
You might be lucky enough to hear
Their tweets and roars on the breeze.

Linda Bondestam's suggestive pictures and the ingenuitive, sometimes melancholic poetry by Ulf Stark get readers of all ages to recognise themselves and each other in the unseen, inner animals that we get to know in the book. Djur som ingen sett utom vi is a picture book to return to and think about. Linda Bondestam's pictures are displayed in the exhibition together with an audio recording of Ulf Stark reading from the book.

Linda Bondestam (b. 1977) is one of the most beloved and acclaimed illutrators in the Nordic region. She has illustrated more than twenty childrens' books, published in Finland and other countries. Bondestam was twice nominated for the Finlandia Junior Prize, Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2010 and 2011 and the Nordic Council Children and Young People's Literature Prize 2013. 2017 she was awarded the Vanessa Prize and together with Ulf Stark she won the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland Prize for Djur som ingen sett utom vi. Linda Bondestam studied illustration at Kingston University in London.

Ulf Stark (1944-2017) is one of Sweden's best known authors. He has written more than a hundred books and has been translated into 35 languages. His many-sided work comprises everything from picture books to novels for young readers. He has reworked several of his books into film scripts and has been awarded many prestigious prizes such as the August prize, Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis, a Guldbagge Award for best screenplay and also an Emmy for an original script for a Danish television series. Together with Linda Bondestam he this year won the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland Prize as well as the Swedish Picture Book of the Year award for Djur som ingen sett utom vi. Djur som ingen sett utom vi was published by Berghs in Sweden and Förlaget in Finland.