Penzberg - The “Penzberger Urmel” 2021 has been awarded: Author Davide Morosinotto and illustrator Stefano Moro received the prize for children's and youth literature.
The award ceremony took place on Friday evening (August 8th) in the Penzberger Stadthalle.
At 5.40 p.m. the moderators Elias Schlögel, Anne Graban and Nikolas Heissig will reveal the well-kept secret.
Before that, the members of the 15-strong youth jury made up of schoolchildren presented the other nine books that were available for the children's and youth literature prize.
Like gladiators, the two lucky winners walk down the aisle to the stage to much applause.
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Entertaining moderation: (from left) Elias Schlögel, Anne Graban and Nikolas Heissig led through the program.
© Andreas Baar
Price surprised author
Up on the stage, the two Italians, translated by Laura Preste, chat about the book, intention and the Oberland. While illustrator Moro is in Penzberg for the first time and is also receiving an award for the first time, author Morosinotto is in town for the second time and is already familiar with awards. The fact that they get the “Urmel” is a “very big surprise,” the author admits. For young readers it is a difficult historical novel for children to digest about the experiences of a young pair of twins in Russia during World War II. Nevertheless, the book is suitable for young people, affirms Morosinotto. He wanted to bring reality and fiction together, explains the 41-year-old. Serious issues shouldn't be hidden, the story shouldn't be forgotten, the Italian emphasizes - there is applause for this.
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Main character: This new "Penzberger Urmel" has been around since 2019.
© Andreas Baar
Prize money of 1000 euros each
In addition to the silver “Urmel” statue, which replaced the bulky predecessor model in 2019, the two award winners received an oversized check.
Issued by the Sparkasse Oberland, which endowed the award with 1000 euros each.
With “the many young people” in preparation and selection, the prize is something special, emphasizes Sparkasse CEO Markus Lanz.
The banker justifies the commitment of his financial institution with the importance of the topic: "Reading is a core competence."
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Casual talk on the stage of the town hall: (from left) author Davide Morosinotto, illustrator Stefano Moro, translator Laura Preste, mayor Stefan Korpan and Sparkasse board member Markus Lanz.
© Andreas Baar
Make youth want to read
An assessment that Penzberg's mayor Stefan Korpan (CSU) can only support.
The aim is to “make young people a taste for reading” with the award launched in 2005 by “Urmel 'inventor and author Max Kruse,” as Korpan explains.
"You can get so many messages across with reading." The town hall chief has to admit that dealing with books is neglected in view of the diverse range of official business.
"My reading is limited to newspapers and e-mails," smiles the local politician - although he likes to read to his children in the evenings.
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You have chosen: The children's jury for the “Penzberger Urmel” with the two winners.
© Andreas Baar
Jury doesn't make it easy for itself
The jury had not made it easy for themselves to choose the book about war, flight, death and violence.
For some of the jury children, the detailed descriptions of the events of the war were "difficult to bear", as the reasoning says.
Ultimately, in addition to the content, the “extraordinary design” was also convincing.
Because the illustration is always rated with the "Urmel".
Moderator Nikolas Heissig, ninth grader at the local high school, calls "Lost in Ice and Snow" a book that is "varied and exciting".
Important message of the plant: War is something very terrible, says Heissig, "even in front of children it does not stop".
