Welcome to IBBY Sweden
A presentation of IBBY in english, please click on the link to download: IBBY-folder_2013_en
IBBY – International Board on Books for Young People – is an international non-profit association established in 1953 in Zürich, supporting the dissemination of good literature for children and youth throughout the world. IBBY is an international organization consisting of national sections officially associated to IBBY. Their common objective is the promotion of good literature for children and youth in a range of different ways.
The Swedish section of IBBY
The Swedish section of IBBY was established in 1956 and then was called the International Youth Book Council (Internationella Ungdomsboksrådet, IUR). At that time there also existed the Swedish Comics Committee established in 1953 under the auspices of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, WILPF, also with the goal of the promotion of good literature for children and youth. The Comics Committee and IUR joined together in 1967 under the name Children and Youth Book Council, today called IBBY Sweden. IBBY Sweden is committed to the promotion of Swedish children’s literature abroad, as well as the introduction of foreign literature in Sweden via the IBBY network in over 80 countries.
Our ambition is to build bridges between peoples and countries through children’s literature. Members of IBBY are authors, illustrators, librarians and publishers and others concerned with children’s and youth literature.
About IBBY
German Jewish Jella Lepman had taken the initiative to the establishment of IBBY in 1952. She was persuaded that everyone involved in the creation, selection and distribution of children’s literature – not only authors, librarians and teachers, but also publishers and book sellers – ought to meet and cooperate with one another. Out of this idea IBBY was established in Zürich in 1953.
The Hans Christian Andersen Prize was established on Jella Lepman’s initiative, and she received the first award for her work in promoting international understanding through children’s books at the IBBY congress in Stockholm, 1956. It was also her idea to celebrate April 2, the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen, as International Children’s Book Day. It was her conviction that international understanding would have to begin with children and that books would be the best means to realize this:
“We can believe in the children themselves, in their miraculous, rarely
mistaken instinct. Their horizons remain without limits, and they will find the solutions.”
IBBY Sweden- this is what we do:
In Sweden
*Annually awards the “Gulliver Prize”
*Annually awards the “Peter Pan Prize”
*Nominates for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award- ALMA
*Arranges seminars and participate in exhibitions at the Göteborg Book Fair
Nordic countries
*Participates in the annual Nordic Congress
International
*Nominates for the H.C. Andersen Medal – the Nobel Prize of children’s literature, every other year
*Nominates Swedish authors, illustrators, and translators for the Honour list every other year
*Nominates for Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities
*Participates in the IBBY International Congress
*Co-editor of the international magazine “Bookbird”
IBBY Sweden’s Awards
The Gulliver Prize
The Gulliver Prize is IBBY Sweden’s own prize established by the Child and Youth Book Council in 1969. It is awarded every year to a person “who by work of critical, theoretical or practical character has significantly contributed to advance understanding of child and youth literature”. The prize consists of a diploma and a sum of money.
The Peter Pan Prize
The Peter Pan Prize was established in 2000 by IBBY Sweden and the Göteborg Book Fair. The prize is awarded annually to a book for children or young adults of high quality in both literary and subject terms, satisfying one or more of the following criteria:
• by an author previously unpublished or little known in Sweden
• from a country, language group or culture with limited representation in Sweden
• with content concerning children or young adults in less familiar countries and cultures less familiar to swedish readers
Peter Pan’s Silver Stars
Awarded annually according to the same criteria as the Peter Pan Award
The prize consists of a diploma for the author, illustrator, translator and for the Swedish publisher.
To become a member of IBBY Sweden
A good way to connect with children’s book contacts around the world!
As member you receive a digital Newsletter six times a year. Libraries, organizations and institutions can also become members. Contact any member of the board.
Membership fees:
Individual members: SEK 250
Libraries and organizations in Sweden: SEK 400
Libraries and organizations outside Sweden: SEK 500