Stephen and the Beetle

JORGE LUJÁN is an author, poet and musician. His body of work, translated into eighteen languages, includes Stephen and the Beetle, illustrated by Chiara Carrer; Doggy Slippers and Numeralia, illustrated by Isol; Colors! ¡Colores!, illustrated by Piet Grobler; and Moví la mano / I Moved My Hand, illustrated by Mandana Sadat. He has won the Premio de Poesía para Niños de ALIJA, and has been nominated for the 2024 Hans Christian Andersen Award and nominated eight times for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. He lives in Mexico.Chiara Carrer is one of Italy's best-known children's book illustrators. She lives in Rome.Visit Chiara Carrer's website:http://www.chiaracarrer.com/ ELISA AMADO is a Guatemalan-born author and translator. She has written My Friend (Mi amiga), illustrated by Alfonso Ruano; Un Barrilete para el Día de los Muertos / Barrilete: A Kite for the Day of the Dead; Cousins (Primas), illustrated by Luis Garay; and Tricycle (El triciclo), illustrated by Alfonso Ruano, which is on the Américas Award Commended List and is a USBBY Outstanding International Book. She lives in Toronto.

This simple yet powerful life-or-death drama between the boy and the beetle is vividly captured in Carrer’s striking, highly original acrylic, ink pencil, oil pastel and collage illustrations. Using naive outlines, Expressionistic color washes, open spaces and constantly changing perspectives, she creates tension between the aggressive boy and the passive beetle.