Áslaug Jónsdóttir – illustratör

Winner of the 2014 UKLA Book Award: an eco-fable with heart and humour

Brimir and Hulda are best friends, living on a beautiful blue planet where there are no grown-ups, life is wild and free, and each day is more exciting than the last. Until, one day, a rocket ship piloted by a strange-looking adult named Gleesome Goodday crashes on the beach. He promises to make life a hundred times more fun - with flying-powder, and coated skin so that noone ever has to bathe again - and even nails the sun to their sky. But Hulda and Brimir soon discover that their endless fun has consequences they could never have imagined. Could it be that Gleesome Goodday is not everything he seems?

An extraordinary adventure of magic and generosity, and a beautifully simple tale of selfishness and sacrifice, The Story of the Blue Planet will delight and challenge readers of every age.

Andri Snaer Magnason is one of Iceland's most celebrated young writers. In 2002 Love Star was named 'Novel of the Year' by Icelandic booksellers and received the DV Literary Award and a nomination to the Icelandic Literary Prize. The Story of the Blue Planet - now published or performed in 22 countries - was the first children's book to receive the Icelandic Literary Prize and was also the recipient of the Janusz Korczak Honorary Award and the West Nordic Children's Book Prize. Magnason is the winner of the 2010 Kairos Award.