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Literature for Young Readers

Junge Lesende © Oriol San Julian at Shutterstock

Reading promotes development, expands both language vocabulary and horizons, and stimulates the imagination. It helps to understand others and discover new worlds. On this page, we present great new publications for young readers from the German-speaking world.

Ein Leben ohne Bücher ist wie eine Kindheit ohne Märchen, ist wie eine Jugend ohne Liebe, ist wie ein Alter ohne Frieden.

(A life without books is like a childhood without fairy tales, is like youth without love, is like old age without peace.)
Carl Peter Fröhling, germanist and philosopher

Children

Billboard with book covers © Atlantis, Beltz & Gelberg, Hanser, Jungbrunnen, Kraus /Canva

Cherrypicker
 Topsy-turvy worlds

The stories told in picture books these days are fantastical, full of adventures and fun. Animals drive construction vehicles and are puzzled by humans, while grown-ups are taught a lesson by children – and the Moon orders itself a dress.
Book covers © Beltz & Gelberg, Thienemann, Arena, Oetinger, Mixtvision, Leykam

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.
Hosentaschenbücher EN © Tiny Books – Big Stories, 2023

Diversity in children's literature
 Tiny Books

Discover our Tiny Books – small books on topics such as "equal opportunities", "diversity", "body" and "freedom", in which children aged between 6 and 10 can find themselves. Free to read or download!  

New Children's books
 Gripping, quirky, moving

New children’s books tell gripping, quirky stories, but also address serious subjects, such as pandemics and war.

 

New Picture Books
 Wittgenstein's Rhino

Recent picture books tell stories about animals that can be the best of friends. And how imagination opens our eyes to the invisible.
Book covers © Huckepack im mairisch Verlag, Oetinger, Diogenes, Hanser, Carlsen

New Children's books
 Between Heaven and Earth

New children’s books tell some crazy and comical stories, while others are populated with dangerous gangsters, ghosts and AI.
Book covers © Peter Hammer, Hanser, Edition Bracklo, Beltz & Gelberg

New Picture Books
 Between Fantasy and Reality

Picture books can comfort us when grandma dies, make us think about our origins or connect a refugee story with a sea princess. And some are great art!
Book covers © Moritz, Beltz & Gelberg, Tulipan, Gabriel, Leykam

New Children's books
 People, Animals, Numbers

The latest children’s books tell stories about animals holidaying on a farm, a girl who’s annoyed by her football-loving family and a maths ace who realises that not every equation works out in life. And there are two non-fiction children’s books about numbers and molluscs.
Book covers © Carlsen, Loewe, Beltz & Gelberg, dtv, Susanna Rieder Verlag

New Children's books
 What Children always wanted to know about Sex and Grammar

A recently-published children’s book shows family conversations about sex to be difficult, but also funny at times. Other recent publications feature robots at school, environmental protection, Death Junior and German grammar.
Book covers © Kunstanstifter, Mixtvision, NordSüd, Prestel

New Picture Books
 Animals, humans, feelings

Animals appear in unexpected places in recent picture books. They also convey the realisation that humans are strange creatures.
The German-language picture book market still struggles with dark-skinned protagonists. One way to boost diversity is to publish translations. Photo (detail): © Baobab Books

Children’s and young adult literature
Different from the others

Children’s books shape the way we see the world as we grow up. There have thus been growing calls in recent years for children’s book publishers to reflect social and cultural diversity.
Book covers © NordSüd, Tulipan, Carlsen, Jungbrunnen, Beltz & Gelberg

New Picture Books
 Animal Heroes

A she-wolf has an unusual career goal, a little dog is left behind in a hotel and a mouse takes a journey through time. These and many more stories can be discovered in newly published picture books.
© Beltz & Gelberg, Hummelburg, Jacoby & Stuart, Sauerländer © Beltz & Gelberg, Hummelburg, Jacoby & Stuart, Sauerländer

New Children’s Books
 Bury Your Nose in Books

Some recent children’s books take readers to magical worlds of adventure. In another, an unexpected inheritance changes lives. And because children should be able to talk about climate change, we present a suitable book on the topic.
Nikolaus Heidelbach can look back on a career of more than 40 years as an author and illustrator. Photo (detail):© Max Groenert/Beltz&Gelberg

Nikolaus Heidelbach
 The funny and the terrible in the world of children

The little heroes in Nikolaus Heidelbach’s picture books do not live in a colourful children’s paradise, nor are they angelically innocent beings themselves either. The Cologne author’s narrative style depicts the light and the dark, as it were, in words and in pictures. Children can handle it, he says.
These days digital formats like the “SuperBuch” are a matter of course even for the youngest readers. Photo (detail) : © Thienemann-Esslinger Verlag

Children’s and young adult books
 Where the digital things are

Even among the youngest readers, demand for digital formats is higher than ever. But switching from the printed page to apps, games, and VR formats is a huge financial challenge, especially for smaller publishing houses. 

Children’s and young adult literature
Are you what you read?

Ideally books for children and young adults open up a world of possibilities and convey ideals, norms and values in the spirit of the times. When, though, do they go too far? Throughout history, books have been ideologically reinterpreted or written specifically to steer young readers in a particular political direction.

Youth

Book covers © Tulipan, Jacoby & Stuart, Beltz & Gelberg, Loewe, dtv / Canva

Cherrypicker
 Skaters, Oracles and Martians

The latest young adult novels deal with big questions about friendship, true greatness, life and death. They also offer science fiction and fantasy.
Neue Jugendbücher 2023 © Beltz & Gelberg, Hanser, Carlsen, Thienemann / canva

New books for young adults
 Much Ado About Diversity

The post-reunification period, upheavals, queerness, ethics, and morality: new books for young people offer a wide range of topics
Cover der besprochenen Bücher © Mixtvision, Kunstanstifter, Rowohlt, Beltz & Gelberg, Gabriel

New books for young adults
 Searching

New youth novels include an unusual love story and a girl with aggression issues. Two youth non-fiction books are about friendship and the difficulty of finding the right job.
Book cover © Rowohlt, Hanser, Jacoby & Stuart, dtv, Oetinger

New books for young adults
 Explorations of the soul

Five new young adult novels tell of the difficulties of growing up – after leaving school, without a father, submerged in digital worlds, in provincial isolation and in the aftermath of World War II. Stories that are sometimes sad, sometimes hopeful.
Book covers © Bohem Press, HaWandel, Beltz

​Diversity in books for children and teenagers
 Moving towards normalisation

The real world is much more diverse than is reflected in our literature.  A discrepancy that is also revealed in books written in German for children and teenagers. Victoria Engels briefly touches upon the complexity of the “diversity question” and casts a spotlight on few authors who are closing the gap with their contributions.
Buchcover © Loewe, Fischer Sauerländer, Tyrolia, Beltz & Gelberg

New books for young people
 FANTASIES, CRAZY IDEAS, CONSPIRACIES

Recent youth novels: riveting and relevant, while also taking up historical events.
Book covers © Carlsen, dtv, Hanser, Schöffling, Beltz & Gelberg

New youth books
 ​Extra-terrestrial Shopaholics in Berlin

A class outing, a road trip with a wolf, a spaceship in front of the Reichstag, a magical empire on an industrial wasteland, a model’s testimony. Our selection of newly published books for young people explores these and much more.

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