A little polar bear awakes from his hibernation to find that his house of ice has melted away from the polar bears' world where he belongs. On his ice floe, the polar bear drifts towards the big city, where no one notices him at first, until a little girl shares her ice cream with him. The children stick up for him. Together, they mount an operation to collect all the ice of the world on which the bear can sail back home.

A sweet and environmentally conscious story, brought into vision simply and beautifully with the right tone and surprising compositions and choice of images here and there. A beautiful picture book without complexes.

At Mister Round's place, everything is round, whereas Mister Square sees things squarely. They are neighbours and see the world continually from their own perspective, which is entirely right for themselves, but very different from the other. What is 'first' for one of them, is 'last' for the other, and what one considers 'black', the other sees as 'white'. And from their own perspective they are both right.

A very original concept and a nice story with a deeper meaning, portrayed in bright colours and with a fresh, contemporary design.

As the title predicts, this is a little and also a sweet story. The girl in this picture book is shown as small in many ways, when she plays with friends or does something for school. She is small in the same way we all are, basically: small in the big world that surrounds us. But being small is not being unimportant.

The illustrator has chosen to make little, subtle illustrations that emphasize the smallness. In a deliberately sketchy kind of way, they leave white spaces on the page, a white that symbolizes the big world outside. A nice and clear message, appreciated by the jury.

Molly loves paper airplanes. They fly 'over' and 'under' and 'in front of' and 'behind'. So at first, you think this is a story about prepositions of place. Until the little plane falls in a puddle and turns out not to be water-resistant. Luckily, a boy that loves paper boats enters the scene. Thus, this becomes a story about friendship, about the acceptance of loss and about going on.

Children's books are often simple stories with an important, deeper meaning. In their simplicity, the almost sketchy illustrations only show the essence: children and the necessary objects telling their story. Minimalist and efficient.

One day, an invitation for the approaching circus descends upon a simple village, a sleepy community. The circus is presented by birds. Every villager looks forward to it. Finally, the magic show begins, starring fishes and birds. And as sudden as the circus has come, it leaves the village, carried by a flock of birds.

The images support the magic in this picture book, with subtle choices of darkness and light. Surreal pictures, all deserving a place in a museum, tell a dream which is so vivid it seems you have really experienced it. The pictures are simply gorgeous.

A magic fairy tale, in which the earth is a sleeping giant who has promised in a bet to sleep eternally in order to save the world. The lake on which the children sail and in which they throw stones, is the eye of the giant called Bethel. It is an eye full of tears.

The pictures are powerful, both in their visual language and their colours. They hold a great attraction and are at the same time cool and detached. Magical.

Daddy, Mummy and their sweet daughter lead a harmonious life together. Mummy starts making a cuddly bunny for her daughter. When the bunny is almost ready, Mummy falls ill and dies. This picture book shows the anger, the sorrow and the consternation in a very touching, strongly emotional way. Everything has changed, but still life goes on. Daddy will finish the bunny.

All the images are finished and together they show all aspects of mourning, very well-considered and in the right technique and colours. The pictures are very realistic, but at the same time, they allow for the reader's own interpretation. Very well done.

Whenever Suzie is the centre of attention, she has to blush. Her friends tease her about this, until she's barely able to play with others anymore. The blushing is like a big red monster that shows up when least expected and least wanted. The illustrator literally depicts the blushing like this: as a monster. Mummy advises her daughter to send away the monster and count on her friends.

The whole is brought into vision strongly and attractively, with children in very natural surroundings, enhanced by the real find of the blush monster.

A fairy tale from Persia. In order to celebrate Yalda, the longest night of the year, a lot of food is required, especially pomegranates. In this story, the last pomegranate is brought home through snow and ice. In a storm, numerous animals all take a bite from the pomegranate, until nothing remains.

Although it's a pity that the story ends badly, the images are incredibly poetic. The water colours evoke the splendour of nature and take us along over snow and ice, at the same time cold and warm. Very beautiful.