News

On the evening of Tuesday 24 May at the Pallas Theatre in central Athens, one of the most special events in the world of books took place: the annual Public Book Awards.Apenanti, the illustrated book by Thodoris Papaioannou and Iris Samartzi, won one of the two special Public Bookshop Awards! For this award, Public bookshop staff vote from among all books in the Children’s Book category. Ikaros entered the children’s book market in 2012. So, the fact that we have already won the hearts of booksellers who come into contact with countless books every day gives us great joy.We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Thodoris Papaioannou for the sweet story of Melios, the beetle so beloved by readers, as well as Iris Samartzi for her wonderful illustrations, and Orestis Papaioannou for the original music accompanying the book. The evening was presented by Odysseas Papaspiliopoulos, and the Camerata – Friends of Music Orchestra, conducted by Giorgos Petrou, provided the musical backdrop with unexpected arrangements of popular pieces. A total of 150 publishing houses took part in the awards’ competition section, 1,300 authors and 2,000 book titles, of which a total of 14 books were awarded prizes. We look forward to seeing you again next year!

The judging panels of the literary magazine Anagnostis announced today, 17 May, the shortlisted books for the magazine’s Literary Awards, the ceremony for which will take place on Monday 13 June at the Benaki Museum.We were delighted to see two of our books included among the nominees in two of the ten award categories: Dimitris Nollas’s novel *Marbles in the Middle*, the second part of his trilogy *Hard Times* (category: Novel), and Alexis Kyritsopoulos’s children’s book *Pigainela sta synnefa* – a fairy tale inspired by the poems of Giorgos Sarantaris (category:Children’s Book with Illustrations)! Find out more about the Reader’s Choice Awards, as well as the full list of nominated books and authors, here.

There are moments ―often― when we need some good news to fill us with inspiration and strength to carry on. The excellent initiative by the 2nd All-Day Nursery School of Potamia, Thasos, to publish a digital version of the annual magazine “Shall We Play with a Book?”, which is dedicated to children’s books, is one such piece of optimistic news!The children’s participation, as well as the editorial supervision by their nursery teacher Vicky Xanthopoulou, were crucial to the second issue. Such important initiatives by inspired teachers deserve great recognition from our society, as they are capable of passing on the inspiration and creativity that children need. Well done, then! The brand-new issue includes the drawings by Birgitta Sif that the author sent to the nursery school along with Oliver’s dolls, so that the children could use them in their activities and learn that it is wonderful to feel different.Thodoris Papaioannou introduced the children to ‘Apenanti’, the new story of Melios, who faces a huge challenge: crossing a busy road full of traffic and cars! Together with the author, the children learnt how Melios managed it and captured it on the pages of the magazine! The issue also includes reviews of the books: The Little Pigs of Happiness (Ioanna Babeta, illustrated by Rania Varvaki), Nikiforos Discovers Emotions, Guided by Cycladic Figurines (Eleni Geroulanou, illustrated by Filippos Fotiadis), From Earth to the Moon, or the Cannon of Peace (Antonis Papatheodoulou, illustrated by Iris Samartzi), Megapolis (Dieudonné Cléa), The Good and the Bad Witches (Antonis Papatheodoulou, illustrated by Iris Samartzi) and The Island Across the Way (Eleni Georgostathi, illustrations: Eliza Vavouri). The front and back covers were designed by Myrto Delivoria, who always takes us on a journey with her images!You can enjoy reading the digital magazine together with your children here. And who knows, by the time they’ve finished reading it, they might be so inspired that they’ll want to publish their own magazine too!

When we hear the word ‘Mum’, the images and nostalgic scents that each of us associates with it can be more powerful than anything we have ever experienced before. A mother is something very special and unique to all of us. She accompanies us through every important moment of our lives, whether easy or difficult, and is there to support us without asking for anything in return.Although Mother’s Day has only been established in recent years, it gives each of us the perfect opportunity to recognise and remember, all year round, just how important her presence is in our lives.We have put together five book recommendations for Mother’s Day: Good Luck Here and Now – Matthew Quick, because readers will be able to meet the book’s protagonist, Bartholomew Neill, and read how he manages to take control of his life ―for the first time― after the loss of his mother, his sole protector until then. ‘When something bad happens to us, something good happens ―often to someone else. And that is Good Luck Here and Now. We must believe in it.”—Matthew QuickPublic Weather – Kiki DimoulaWhy? Because you will be reading one of the most iconic Greek texts of recent years. Kiki Dimoula, sarcastic, ironic, playful, self-deprecating, elliptical, surprising in her metaphors and bold in her similes, dares to use words of the day and even colloquial phrases, hurling them into metaphysical interpretations, unafraid of the familiar criticism for lexical acrobatics. ‘‘AND YET IT MOVES’: Rise, day. Wash yourself; your breakfast is ready, the world freshly served, just cut from the tree of sleep. Take its dream with you for your lunch. Save a little for dusk; you’ll be hungry and the shops will be closed. Just restrain your ostentatious, self-indulgent sprawl as much as you can. After all, you know that on the backside of a mountain, one puff of wind and you’re gone. Poems – George Seferis Because the new edition of Seferis’s poems is a priceless gift. Seferis’s readers, both older and younger, now have the opportunity to engage with his principal poetic output and appreciate the varied ramifications of his character, at times suggestive and at times unexpectedly playful (Nobel Prize 1963). The Monogram – Odysseas Elytis Because we have read it countless times and the thrill of the experience remains unchanged from one reading to the next. You will immediately realise how important it is to your life.Nora Webster – Colm TóibínBecause the tenderness and humanity, the pain of loss, everyday life with its joys and sorrows, the things we say and the things we hide, all combine to create an unforgettable reading experience. You will love the heroine, Nora Webster, like no other. Nora Webster lives in a small town and has taken on the care of her four children following the death of her husband, whilst trying to rebuild her life.