Soon to come from Olla Forlag: two picturebooks in English edition!
«The Iceberg Family» by Audbjørg Gjerde Lippert, illustrated by Tarjei Rypdal Eide, translated by the author – and
«Birger’s Odyssey» by Olla Rypdal and Tarjei Rypdal Eide, translated by Lise Rønnestad.
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THE ICEBERG FAMILY
PREFACE:
I got the idea to this children’s story “The Iceberg Family” after adventurous voyages to Antarctica and Greenland/Svalbard/Iceland with the Explorer ship “Fram”.
I was thrilled by the icebergs, and by the nature that surrounds them. For me the icebergs are life and identity. They are creatures with thoughts and souls that live their lives in wild and beautiful, but vulnerable nature. The beauty of these areas with their mountains, snow and ice surpasses everything.
The icebergs tell their story themselves. We meet The Ice King and The Ice Queen who live together with their family in this clean, beautiful ice world. There they have their pleasures and sorrows. Now and then they hear scary news and rumours about what is going on in the world outside, among other things about whales that get their stomachs filled with plastic. One day a boat arrives in their kingdom. What will that do to the vulnerable nature there?
It has been claimed, however, that only the one who has experienced the Arctic, knows to take care of it. Nevertheless, these areas are vulnerable and can easily be polluted and damaged.
These are – as I see it – important questions that very well may be discussed with the children. I have tried not to dramatize the problem, just in careful ways asked some questions about how we relate to the wild and beautiful, but vulnerable nature. My hope is that this story will trigger further thoughts in the children’s mind.
Audbjørg Gjerde Lippert
BLURB:
The Iceberg Family live in The Ice Fjord far, far to the north. The fjord is clean and beautiful like the clearest glass. Here the iceberg children Ice Laug, Ice Finn and Ice Bjorg play all day long. Sometimes seals and whales come to see them, and now and then a hungry polar bear may show up. One day, however, something very special happens. A boat full of people in blue jackets comes into their fjord and begins to circle around them. The icebergs, both the small and the big ones, get frightened. What will happen to their family now? Can they live there safely as they have done up to now? Or will warm currents in the sea make them melt? Will plastic and garbage fill the stomachs of the whales and lead to their death? They have heard some rumours…
In this book Lippert has chosen to use some traits from the fairy tale, but without sticking completely to that genre. The mixture of genres is chosen to give the book a modern expression. At the same time the association with well-known fairy tale traits can be a motivator to make the children think their own thoughts. That is the author’s intention.
BIRGER’S ODYSSEY
‘He who cannot draw on three thousand years is living from hand to mouth.’ ―
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749 – 1832
PREFACE:
For as long as the first human beings have existed on Earth, we have told each other stories of Earth’s creation; stories of how elements and incidents of nature could be explained by fights between heroes and monsters, stories about the fight between evil and good forces.
Through time, the number of stories has increased. We wonder what may exist in the sea, in the air, on and inside the planet Earth, in the ice, beneath the ice…
Most of this is explainable, but fiction is lifting our thoughts and dreams.
At the same time, science and research discover traces from ancient people and animals. We may learn something about how our ancestors took care of nature and Earth. Could it be that knowledge of past times might be useful today, to help us taking care of the Earth?
We no longer fully believe in old stories passed on to us, they cannot explain everything. Our fantasy, however, needs these stories to find new paths – paths to help us care for everything in nature, both inside and outside this one planet Earth on which we live.
In this book, we get to meet Birger. He likes stories. The scientific story of man, of our Earth and everything that lives, and has lived – but also the exciting stories told by our ancestors to explain how everything was mutually linked together.
Approximately 3000 years ago, a poet named Homer was said to live in Greece. He collected contemporary myths and stories, some of which he retold in his book about Odysseus and his journey home from the Trojan War. Since this book became very famous, the word Odyssey has become a synonym to a long journey.
Birger is also familiar with this story because he has heard it from his parents. They have also told him about Birger’s great-great-grandfather, Ole. He was a machinist on a whaling ship, and almost a hundred years ago, he went whaling in the Southern Ocean.
In Birger’s Odyssey, Birger is the one heading for a long journey. Before he leaves together with his parents, he finds the whaling diary that his great-great-grandfather Ole wrote when he was in the Southern Ocean.
In Antarctica, Birger gets to experience research and science linked to the Earth and the ice. At the same time, he is reading about the whaling adventures of his great-great-grandfather Ole. Birger is also writing his very own book about his personal imaginary Odyssey.
BLURB:
«Then he can hear it. The sound that he has merely sensed, now he can hear it loud and clear. It keeps getting closer. It seems like some sort of breathing. Birger can feel the shivers down his spine. He fumbles for his headlamp, turns it on and flashes the light towards something moving between the stalactites »
In this book, we get to meet Birger. He likes stories. The scientific story of man, of our Earth and everything that lives, and has lived – but also the exciting stories told by our ancestors to explain how everything was mutually linked together.
In Birger’s Odyssey, Birger is the one heading for a long journey. Before he leaves together with his parents, he finds the whaling diary that his great-great-grandfather Ole wrote when he was in the Southern Ocean.
In Antarctica, Birger gets to experience research and science linked to the Earth and the ice. At the same time, he is reading about the whaling adventures of his great-great-grandfather Ole. Birger is also writing his very own book about his personal imaginary Odyssey.
