Núria Ventura is a renowned and well-known expert in Libraries and children and young adults’ literature. She was born in Barcelona in 1950. She studied librarianship and information science and got a degree in Education from the University of Barceloan. She took a master degree in library management at Pompeu Fabra University, in the same city.
Since 1971 she has been working in several manager positions at the libraries of Barcelona, including a director position at the network of popular libraries of Barcelona Regional Government, and as a coordination head of the Service of Libraries of the mentioned network. She is currently the Head of the Service of Libraries and the secretary of Associació de Bibliotecaris de Catalunya.
She has several publications about bibliography for libraries, apart from articles published in specialized magazines.
She has worked as a curate manager in exhibitions such as "Les Biblioteques Populars en la Pau i en la Guerra” and "La novel.la romantica", and took part in the catalogue of the exhibition "Biblioteca en guerra" (“Library at war”), of the Spanish National Library.
As a literary critic, her book reviews have appeared in newspapers such as Avui, El País... She has been part of the jury for diverse children and young adults’ literature awards and she has also published some compilations of stories, apart from translating to Catalonian language “The island”, or “Screamingmother”, among others. .
Edición en catalán de "Madrechillona".
En una ocasión, la madre del pequeño pingüino se puso furiosa y le gritó terriblemente. Después se arrepintió y dijo: “¡Perdón!”
"...es un libro delicioso para los más pequeños: la historia no puede decir más con menos palabras" (Ana Garralón en Educación y Biblioteca".
"Madrechillona es una pequeña joya, tanto por su contenido como por su presentación" (Paco Abril en La oreja verde).
"Madrechillona es una oferta literaria a niños muy pequeños, que les propone iniciarse en la metáfora. En este caso, una metáfora de las emociones logra, con acierto, belleza (y sin edulcorantes) presentar un aspecto complejo de la experiencia humana y nuestra relación con los otros" (María Cecilia Silva-Díaz en Barbar).
ALGUNOS DE LOS PREMIOS OBTENIDOS:
- Eule des Monats del mes de Diciembre, otorgado por la redacción deL Bulletin Jugend & Literatur.
- Premio Austríaco al libro del mes de Febrero de 2001 .
- Premio Alemán al Libro Infantil (álbum) 2001.
- Seleccionado por el Gremi de Llibreters de Catalunya para el Premio Llibreter 2001, álbum il.lustrat.
- Seleccionado por la Fundación GSR y la CEGAL para el catálogo “Libros con dos miradas”.
One morning, the inhabitants of the island find a man laying on the beach, where tide has dragged his raft to. Although the people take the man in, deep fears regarding this strange man prevail in them and, finally, they make a drastic decision.
“Concerning picture books, these books do not have an age, and this is an excellent sample” (Educación y Biblioteca Review).
OBTAINED AWARDS:
- Catholic Award to Children and Young Adult’s Book in 2003, awarded by German Episcopal Conference
- 7 best books in April 2002 list, selected by Deutschland Radio and Focus Review
-Luchs des Monats (lynx of the month), in April 2002, awarded by Die Zeit Magazine and Bremen Radio.
- Eule des Monats (owl of the month), in April 2002, awarded by Bulletin Monatsmagazin
"My house was built in an olive tree field long time before I was born…”
This house was full of happiness, and children and flowers were reared in it. However, war and its ruins reach the whole family. Before leaving the house, Baba, the grandmother, hide the key of the house in her veil. Men go to war while women and children hide in a refugee camp.
All of them hope to go back soon. But, slowly, time passing by weakens this hope in returning home.
OBTAINED AWARDS:
- Selected by International IBBY to contribute to “Highlighted books for disabled children and young adults” 2011
-Prix d'Illustration Elisabeth Mrazik Cleaver - IBBY Canada
- Selected to contribute to “White Ravens” 2009 by Internationale Jugend Bibliothek from Munich
-The year' best 2009 list
- Finalist of “Prix Toronto-Dominion de Littérature Canadienne pour l'enfance et la jeunesse” 2009
- Sélection Communication-Jeunesse 2009-2010
-Finalist of Prix Alvine-Bélisle 2009