Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize 2023
Nominated for the Reykjavik Children’s Literature Prize 2022
Special mention at The BRAW (BolognaRagazzi Awards) Amazing Bookshelf at the Bologna Book fair 2024
A wildly entertaining book!
On an impromptu bring-your-kid-to-work day, Kaktus goes on a bus trip with tour guide and mother extraordinaire Brá. Together with a group of eccentric sightseers they venture on a classic day tour of waterfalls, furry horses and postcard perfect landscapes. But their day takes an unexpected twist when Kaktus spots something glowing red hot in the distance…
Award-winning author and illustrator Rán Flygenring is a true volcano aficionado. After trekking to the eruptions on Reykjanes peninsula nearly two dozen times, she now brings to life the dazzling volcanic spectacles she experienced there in the thrilling and sometimes perilous events of this book.
„The book’s lovely pictures radiate humour and are full of captivating details. They flow like pitch-black volcanic ash in Japanese ink, then like a river of glowing lava in a colourful rug, reproducing nature both realistically and adventurously. The people are all depicted in black and white, while nature is radiant in colour. Thus the red-glowing lava emerges as a character in its own right, while the contrast between people in black and white and colourful nature serves as a reminder that we’re only visitors on earth. Just like the tourists in the book.
At first glance, Volcano may seem like a lively and straightforward story about a mother, her son and oblivious nature, but it goes a lot deeper than that. The story makes one think about prejudice, foolishness, danger and fear, and about the importance of taking responsibility for oneself in encounters with nature. Brá and Kaktus try in vain to save a fox sitting on a small mound encircled by glowing lava. Suddenly, a big group of rescuers appears. It turns out that Kaktus’s head is covered in lice, which leap over to the mound “like a tiny, well-trained rescue patrol” and save the fox. Flygenring juxtaposes the emotional extremes that arise when – on the one hand – you’re seeing the ground split open and new mountains being created and – on the other hand – you’re faced with an everyday lice epidemic. Does one have similar feelings of vulnerability and powerlessness when faced with a threat of a different kind?
In Volcano, the point of view constantly shifts between the gigantic and the diminutive, which injects excitement and life into this relatively simple story. At the end, the lice have settled in the fox’s fur and started a new life in harmony with their host. This should be interpreted as hope that humanity will finally find a good way to live on earth – a way that’s not reminiscent of an epidemic but in harmony with nature.“
RATIONALE, NORDEN.ORG
“This is a brilliant book.”
EGILL HELGASON, KILJAN/ICELANDIC NATIONAL TV
“A great book, very original.”
SOLRUN L. RAGNARSDOTTIR, MORGUNBLADID DAILY
“It’s safe to recommend this new book for children of all ages and adults alike.”
SOFFIA A. BIRGISDOTTIR, SKALD.IS
