Imogen Pollock wrote a biography of her mother many years ago in which she described her as an irritable, cruel, and narcissistic woman. Her mother was Enid Blyton, the author of a prolific body of children's literature that, like millions of children around the world, turned me into a voracious reader.

Now that Christmas is coming, I hope many children receive children's books as gifts, including some classics. If you'd like a recommendation, it would be great to revisit the wonderful Pippi Longstocking, a character created in the mid-20th century who maintains her modern and progressive values intact—in other words, more relevant than ever given the current state of affairs.

One day, the Italian Bruno Munari, designer, artist, educator, and children's book author (and, in general, a pretty cool guy), explained to his students at Harvard University that when a good printer receives a new book, he looks at it very carefully, taking in every detail, from every possible angle. On the other hand, Munari continued, when readers pick up (we pick up) a book, they generally only care about the title, the author, the synopsis, and the price before starting to read. That day's lesson was entitled Everyone sees what they know., and it is precisely the title, in Spanish, of the first book by two great experts in children's albums, Piu Martínez and Anna Juan. In Each one comes what he knows (Gustavo Gili), the authors explain this lesson and take up the message of their admired Munari: the Italian showed that it's necessary to train the eye, to acquire some knowledge, in order to make readings that don't remain on the most superficial level.

Just as Sant Jordi approaches, the Catalan Children's and Young Adult Book Council (IBBYcat) recognized the 35 best Catalan-authored books of 2024 in this genre this Wednesday at an event at the Bologna Book Fair chaired by the Minister of Culture, Sònia Hernández. Based on this selection, the works will be chosen to be included in the catalog of the best books published in Spain. In addition, the works will be eligible to be included in the prestigious The White Ravens list, which each year highlights 200 books from more than 50 countries and more than 50 languages.