The Visitor by Sonja Bougaeva

 

Thank goodness for the wonderful Gecko Press who bring us (here in Australia and in New Zealand) very special books from around the world. The original title of The Visitor is Zwei Schwestern Bekommen Besuch published in 2005 with the Gecko Press translation from 2007 so yes this book is sadly out of print but it could be in a school library because firstly it is on the NSW Premiers Reading Challenge list and secondly it may have arrived in your school library as part of a Scholastic Standing Order because they used to be the Australian agent for Gecko.  This has now changed to Walker Books Australia.

"Two sisters lived on an island where they were very happy. ... Everything was just right."

Every reader will know the scene is set for change and possibly disaster. Everything will no longer be just right and from the title, it is clear this disruption to their lives, will come in the form of a visitor. The visitor is their cousin John. He takes over their house - repairing things that are broken, painting their house from top to bottom in a hideous colour, cooking 'healthy' food, enforcing daily exercise, gardening in a ruthless way and tossing out all of their precious things in the interests of tidying up.  At no stage does he talk to the sisters or ask for their permission or even discuss his plans. The sisters don't know what to do. Their gentle lives are now unbearable. Luckily, though,  they do not have to tell John to go ... He finally declares:

"I can't stay in this  place any longer! ... You're such bores. A pair of real no-hopers! I've been helping you out and fixing everything. But do I get a word of thanks? Not one! ... I'm going home today!"

Here is a plot summary:

The cousin from town bursts into the tranquillity of everyday life on the island of two older sisters. In her humorous and subtle debut work, Sonja Bougaeva fully exploits the differences between the characters: the somewhat sloppy sisters in their eccentric, good-natured, helpless amiability, the cousin, who is keen on self-expression, with his intrusiveness and his inability to respect the peculiarities of others ...

About the author: Sonja Bougaeva was born in 1975 in St Petersburg. She studied book art and painting at the Academy of Arts. Subsequently, she trained as a cartoon animator and worked in a film studio. She has lived in Hamburg since 1998. The Visitor was first published in Switzerland.

From what I have read Sonja Bougaeva's most famous book is Abigail the Whale which has even been made into a theatre production. 

Gecko Press also published The Big Yawn illustrated by Sonja but sadly this one is also out of print.

You could use this book with a class in several ways.  The opening sentence could be used as a writing stimulus. The illustrations could also be used as story prompts and a class could even debate the rights and wrongs of John's actions or you could use the 'hot seat' technique to interview each character. 

Little Bear's Treasures by Stella Dreis

 

"When treasures are shared, they multiply."

Little Bear is a great treasure finder. "He didn't look for his treasures - he found them. Everywhere."

Finding all these wonderful things Little Bear is keen to share the treasures with others but at every turn he is rejected. Others scoff and say his treasures are no more than junk. This makes Little Bear utterly despondent until he meets a new friend - Little Bird. Thank goodness for new friends. Thank goodness for new friends who have an imagination. Thank goodness for new friends who love to explore and notice things in the world because there are so many glorious things all around just waiting to be found.

"The stood there like two kings and counted the stars."

Take a minute to think about the language used in this book and the amazing skill of the translator.

Little Bear examined his treasures. The key word here is "examined". He did more than just look at them. Examined means he touched them, he thought about each one, he recalled where he found his treasures.

Here are the treasures:

"A shiny button, tickly feathers, a soft cloud, a handy clothespin, a cosy hiding place, a shy piece of fluff, a magic stick, endless dust to dance in and a bush brimming with blueberries."

You can see many of the illustrations here.

Stella Dreis is a painter, illustrator, and author from Plovdiv, Bulgaria. She has lived in Germany since 1995, where she works as a freelance artist and illustrator, creating her treasure trove of work. Dreis’s fine illustrations have received many awards including the Hasselt Publication Award, the Troisdorf picture book prize, and the Golden Plaquette from the Bratislava International Biennial of Illustrations. Greystone Books

Alive with modest wonder—a treasure. Kirkus Star review

The art of Little Bear's Treasure manages to have an ebullient quality that captures the bear's euphoria at the knowledge that he has stumbled upon something more priceless than treasure: someone who understands him. Shelf Awareness

Here is the cover of the original German edition published in 2018.

I am keen to see some other books illustrated by Stella Dreis.

Here is the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Princess and the Pea

One German reviewer suggested pairing Little Bear's Treasures with these:

I have previously talked about another book by Anne-Galle Balpe - The Bureau of Weights and Measures. And I am excited to see Eve Tharlet is the illustrator of a quirky book I used to enjoy sharing with Kindergarten - How will we get to the beach by Brigitte Luciani.

The CBCA Book Week in 2018 slogan was Find your Treasure. This book is the perfect embodiment of that sentiment.

My favorite memories by Sepideh Sarihi illustraiton by Julie Völk translated by Elisabeth Lauffer

 

"They gave me a suitcase, so I could pack. 

Mama said I could only take my most favorite things"

Publisher blurb: A young girl is moving to a new country and there is so much that she wants to bring: an aquarium, a pear tree, her best friend, the ocean. As she moves through the list of the things she loves she comes to understand that while we cannot always carry things with us physically - maybe they can travel with us in other ways. Blue Dot Kids Press

This is a book you can share with a young child as a way to talk about change - big changes like moving to a new house or country or even small changes.

A charming tale exploring themes of change, migration, and resilience told from a child’s point of view. Kirkus

My favorite memories memories was originally published in Germany with the title Meine liebsten Dinge müssen mit. The author Sepideh Sarihi was born in Iran and now lives in Germany. Julie Völk is from Austria. My Favourite Memories was the winner of the 2020 BolognaRagazzi Award. Take a look at this film made for Bologna.

Here is another recent book translated into English and illustrated by Julie Volk. 

I was working a school library towards the end of last year when a parent came in requesting Picture books about moving to a different country to share with her young child. As a result of this conversation I started a Pinterest of titles on this topic.