Cherrypicker
Hypersonic speed and chain stitches
Realistic yet fantastical, full of adventure, exciting and informative: all of these attributes apply to our small selection of new children’s books.
By Holger Moos
© Beltz & Gelberg
Anne Becker studied special needs education and was nominated for the German Children’s Literature Award for her first children’s novel Die beste Bahn meines Lebens (The Best Length of My Life, 2019), in which the main character suffers from dyslexia. In Luftmaschentage (Chain Stitch Days), her new book for children, the first-person narrator Matea has an anxiety disorder and hardly speaks to anyone outside her family. Until a new girl arrives in her class. Ricci, whose family is dysfunctional, is the complete opposite of Matea. She doesn’t give two hoots what anyone thinks of her and is never short of a cool retort. She approaches shy Matea without prejudice and helps her find a way out of her isolation. With great sensitivity, Becker tells this story of an unequal friendship that has to survive quite a few tests of endurance. She succeeds in making a convincing plea for more understanding and tolerance.

Oliver Scherz’s children’s book Sieben Tage Mo (Seven Days Mo) is about two very different brothers. Karl is at the end of his tether: four days a week he has to take care of his twin, who has been disabled since birth. And he always seems to draw the short straw. His mother works as a nurse and his father is abroad. Karl fluctuates between aggression and love for his brother. He doesn’t even let on to his classmates that he has a brother and vents his frustration at school by playing up. Scherz paints a psychologically accurate picture of the disabled boy’s behaviour and the way those around him react. Everything starts to improve when Karl meets a girl who comes round to his house and is immediately adopted by and accepts his brother, not to mention his football friends. And when his mother realizes that too much is being asked of him. The book, which is illustrated by Philipp Waechter, won the Luchs des Monats prize – which is awarded monthly – in October 2023. Sieben Tage ohne Mo is lauded for its “unpretentious story, which intentionally comes across as ‘small’ in order to be better able to talk about the big issues in life without pathos or kitsch: fear, friendship, betrayal, family, loneliness, being in love and happiness. And about the tragicomical nature of everyday life.”
Fantasy and Adventures in Space


As Gripping as Ocean’s Eleven


Weinheim: Beltz & Gelberg, 2023. 173 p.
ISBN: 978-3-407-75759-3 (from 11 years)
You can find this title in our eLibrary Onleihe.
Patrick Fix: Space Alarm. Mit Hyperschall durchs All
Hamburg: Oetinger, 2023. 176 p.
ISBN: 978-3-7512-0344-9 (from 8 years)
Andrea Grill / Sandra Neuditschko (Ill.): Bio-Diversi-Was? Reise in die fantastische Welt der Artenvielfalt
Graz: Leykam 2023. 216 p.
ISBN: 978-3-7011-8288-6
Lena Hach: Was Wanda will
München: Mixtvision, 2023. 186 p.
ISBN: 978-3-95854-204-4 (from 11 years)
Margit Ruile / Helge Vogt (Ill.): Nelumbiya. Im Land der magischen Pflanzen
Würzburg: Arena, 2023. 336 p.
ISBN: 978-3-401-60667-5 (from 10 years)
Oliver Scherz / Philipp Waechter (Ill.): Sieben Tage Mo
Stuttgart: Thienemann, 2023. 170 p.
ISBN: 978-3-522-18648-3 (from 11 years)