Light Horse Boy illustrations selected for Bologna Children’s Book Fair

Fremantle Press illustrators are again set to shine at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in March 2014. Drawings from Light Horse Boy will feature in the Australian Publishers Association exhibition Hello! from Australia while The Last Viking and Dreamers will feature in the exhibition’s book showcase.

Light Horse Boy illustrator Brian Simmonds said international recognition was perhaps one of the most precious and rewarding prizes he could hope for.

‘It’s a very personal reward with a personal value,’ said Simmonds.

Author Dianne Wolfer said that in the lead-up to the 2014 WWI commemoration services across the world, she hoped Light Horse Boy would remind readers of the sacrifices made by young men and women a hundred years ago, and the importance of diplomacy over military action.

‘Light Horse Boy follows one fictitious soldier through the well-known and less well-known battles of WWI’s “Desert War”. The image chosen for Bologna portrays a quiet moment that shows the close working bond between one soldier and his horse – it is both sensitive and powerful,’ said Wolfer.

Fremantle Press Children’s Publisher Cate Sutherland said the exhibition was very visible and created a buzz around the illustrators selected.

‘The exhibition gets a lot of attention from a wide range of international publishers and helps increase our profile and contacts,’ she said.

Hello! from Australia is presented by Books Illustrated and the Australian Publishers Association and is proudly supported by CAL’s Cultural Fund. The exhibition promotes Australian culture and literary culture internationally, and showcases the diversity and depth of Australian children’s books through the work of a range of outstanding Australian children’s book illustrators.

The annual Bologna Children’s Book Fair, held in Bologna, Italy, is the premiere international children’s rights event, attracting over 4500 attendees from nearly 70 countries.

Light Horse Boy by Dianne Wolfer and Brian Simmonds and The Last Viking by Norman Jorgensen and James Foley are both available now. Dreamers by Ezekiel Kwaymullina and Sally Morgan will be published in 2014, as will the sequel to The Last Viking.