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The final talk this year at the Tools Of Change conference in Bologna, one day before the start of the 49th Children’s Book Fair, was about neither fancy apps nor cutting-edge technologies.Elizabeth Wood, a representative of Worldreader, a non-profit organisation, presented her vision for how books will reach schools in developing countries. By developing partnerships and securing donations from major organisations such as Amazon, Penguin and Random House, Worldreader has placed hundreds of e-readers (Amazon Kindles) in schools across Africa, which, via the GSM mobile network, receive free books in English as well as in the local language.Over 75,000 books have been distributed to 1,000 pupils, with the results already evident in their reading and English language learning. The pupils spend many hours reading, even outside school, whilst a pilot app for downloading and reading ebooks was also presented, which will work on the basic mobile phones that are widespread in these areas.Notably, Wood predicted that, in the same way that people in these regions moved straight to using mobile phones without going through the landline phase, so they will learn to read exclusively in digital form, without ever experiencing the printed book.

Just yesterday, some of the new children’s books due to be published this year arrived at our offices. Among them is *Goldilocks and Just One Bear* by Leigh Hodgkinson, which is already in bookshops. Leigh, an award-winning illustrator and animation director, lives in England and is married with a young daughter. In her spare time, she paints and designs various decorative items for her home and her daughter’s room, which she then posts on her blog, along with photographs and detailed instructions.Goldilocks, in this modern version as presented by Lee, was one of the first foreign books we decided to translate into Greek, and one of the most difficult! This is because much of the text in the original book consisted of handwritten notes by the illustrator herself. The truth is that we tried very hard to capture the style and character of Lee’s writing, but even so, the anxiety over whether we’d succeeded gnawed at us every day. Until Lee received copies of the Greek edition and wrote about her excitement on her blog! Our relief and joy were immense, as you can imagine.Lee has just received the Greek edition of the book.We all know that when Goldilocks turned the three bears’ house upside down, they said goodbye to her with great relief. But have you ever wondered what happened next? Years later, the little bear gets lost in the big city, and guess who she meets! A clever and funny sequel to a much-loved fairy tale, by an award-winning illustrator.

The shortlist for the State Literary Translation Awards in the categories ‘intradilingual translation’ and ‘translation of a work of foreign literature into Greek’ was finalised yesterday by the relevant Committee.Specifically, the State Literary Translation Awards Committee unanimously agreed on the works comprising the ‘shortlist’, which are: 1. C. P. Cavafy, Selected Prose Works, translated by Peter Jeffreys, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.2. Kiki Dimoula, Le peu du monde: suivi de Je te salue jamais, translated by Michel Volkovitch, Paris: Gallimard. 3. Nikos Fokas, The Known: Selected Poems, 1981–2000, translated by Don Schofield, Athens: Ypsilon. 4. Alexandros Papadiamantis, La asesina, translated by Laura Salas Rodriguez, Cáceres: Periférica. 5. Emmanuil Roidis, Relatos de Siros: recuerdos y reflexiones, translated by Carmen Vilela, Seville: University of Seville. Regarding Michel Volkovitch’s translation of Kiki Dimoula’s work, the committee states the reasoning behind its selection: "In his French translation of Kiki Dimoula’s two poetry collections, *The Little World* and *Hail, Never*, Michel Volokovitch follows the spirit of the text without systematically straying from its letter, recreating her multifaceted poetic language. The everyday nature of Dimoula’s imagery translates with ease into French and demonstrates the translator’s complete familiarity with her poetic world."

By Olga Sella, KATHIMERINI 4/2/2012 The historic publishing house with new initiatives. The third generation – Marilena Panourgia and Nikos Argyris, children of Chrysoula and Katerina Karidi – have been working at “Ikaros” Publications for some time now. They manage the long history of the publishing house founded by their grandfather, Nikos Karydis, with respect and inspiration, but they also listen to the reading needs of the fourth generation, their own children – little Elli and little Aphrodite. Thus, alongside the books of Nobel Prize-winning poets, from this month, February, a major, brand-new publishing programme aimed at young readers will begin to unfold. Yes, Ikaros Publications is also turning its attention to children’s books, showcasing Greek authors whilst also introducing the Greek public to significant international authors. The criteria for each publication will be its educational value, high-quality texts and carefully crafted illustrations. And specifically for children’s books, a new logo has been designed: a little ‘Ikaros’, a... Little Ikaros! Bridge and perspective The bridge to the well-known ‘Ikaros’ catalogue of publications is formed by the series entitled ‘If I were to read: poets of the 1930s generation’ (in collaboration with the Benaki Museum), conceived and created by the artist Alexis Kyritsopoulos, who draws inspiration from the poems of the great poets of the ’30s generation and writes a new fairy tale, which he naturally illustrates. The first two books in the series are titled ‘Just a Little More’ (inspired by a poem by Giorgos Seferis) and ‘Fireworks’ (inspired by poems by Nikos Engonopoulos).Also featured in the ‘Ikaros’ publications is Evgenios Trivizas with two distinct books: ‘Tzo and Tsiou’ (illustrated by Liza Iliou) written following a meeting between the popular author and the Ethiopian activist Johannes Gebregeorgis in Stockholm, who asked Trivizas to write a subversive and subversive version of the English children’s book ‘Curious George’. The book will be published in a special bilingual edition (English-Amharic) for the children of Ethiopia. Eugenios Trivizas’s second book will be titled ‘The Camel’s Complaint’ (illustrated by Nikos Koutsis), featuring a solitary Bedouin, tirelessly accompanied by a camel, who at one point asks him to relieve her of her hump so that she may become light and swift as a gazelle. Young readers will see bustling Arab bazaars, seedy harbours and cosmetic surgeons’ waiting rooms come to life before their eyes, and will witness a hilarious allegory.Foreign-language books With an experienced storyteller, Filippos Mandilaras, translating the foreign-language books, we will be treated to a wide variety of tales. Such as the bunnies Tick and Tella in various stories by the multi-award-winning Axel Scheffler. The book ‘Goldilocks and Just One Bear’ by Leigh Hodgkinson, which offers a subversive take on the well-known fairy tale. Mr and Mrs Deer, who didn’t have a baby of their own but would very much like to have one, and one day find one on their doorstep. Except it was growling (‘What a Strange Baby! Grrr!’ by Simon Puttock. A tender story that speaks of the value of a gift and the joy one feels when giving, in the book ‘A Gift for Everyone’ (author Birdie Black, illustrator Rosalind Beardshaw).To help the youngest readers become familiar with the book, Ikaros Publications is producing pop-up books. The first book in the series is *I Play and Read on the Farm*. Finally, for the first time, the Greek public will be introduced to the award-winning children’s book illustrator Oliver Jeffers, with the release of the book ‘Oops... It’s Stuck’, which tells the story of a kite that gets stuck in the branches of a tree. Not only is the story delightful, but the illustrations are also impressive. The first children’s books The truth is that Ikaros Publications have reissued children’s books before. There are already two in their catalogue, published as far back as 1948! These are ‘Children’s Songs’ by Minos Dounias and the well-known children’s fairy tale ‘Dili-Dili’, both illustrated by the artist Spyros Vassiliou. In fact, “Dili-Dili” was reprinted in 2006 and reached a new generation of readers, whilst in 2010 it was released as a free app for iPhone and iPad devices, and to date more than 2,500 e-readers have downloaded the app.At a time when most news concerns postponements, cancellations or cutbacks, a historic publishing house is venturing into new territory, drawing on the experience and discernment that have characterised its journey to date.