Taiwan artist Chen Chih-yuan is winner of this year’s Peter Pan Prize organized by the Swedish chapter of Zurich-headquartered International Board on Books for Young People.
A 2005 New York Times best-seller, “Guji Guji” tells the story of a crocodile raised by ducks, highlighting the importance of accepting differences among family members.
According to IBBY Sweden, Chen created a variant of the ugly duckling in his playful and warm picture book, with beautiful watercolor and ink illustrations enhancing the humor of the story while providing an array of amusing details.
Chen’s works have been translated into more than 10 languages, with “On My Way to Buy Eggs” named Best Illustrated Book of the Year by American trade news magazine Publishers Weekly in 2003. He will be presented with the IBBY award in September and invited to attend Goteborg Book Fair.
Established in 2000 by IBBY Sweden and the Goteborg Book Fair, the prize is awarded annually to honor children’s literature from outside the Scandinavian country.
The Pingtung County native is the second Taiwan illustrator to be recognized by the Stockholm-based organization. Jimmy Liao won a Peter Pan Silver Star Award last year, and was invited on a weeklong visit to Sweden last November. (SFC-JSM)
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