Melanie Kemmler was born in Germany in 1972 and she studied Illustration at the Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenchaften of Hamburg. Since 2003, she is been working for different and important German publishing houses and her drawings have been exhibited at Bologna Book Fair, and have obtained several awards, including the Austrian Children and Young Adults’ Literature Award and the Troisdorf Children’s Jury Prize.
A moving story about two different twin brothers that is told with big beautiful pictures.
A boy is arranging his own birthday and his twin brother’s birthday. While he is tidying up his bedroom with care, his mind is talking to his brother, who is disabled and can’t live with him. He imagines the kind of music he would play, his brother’s favourite one, and the story he would tell him, the one his brother loves the most.
He cheers up with the birthday present he has prepared for his brother, the one he has been saving his allowance for, and he recalls the holidays they spent together, at Christmas and in the summer.
He is also aware that his birthday presents will be very different to the presents his brother will receive, and he knows that he will have to blow out all the candles because his brother can’t do that.
“An unusual picture book for the oldest and the youngest” (Young Adults’ Literature and Media workgroup, GEW, German Science and Education trade union).
“A touching work for adults and young children, with magic illustrations” (Menudos Corazones Foundation Magazine).
Recommended by Banco del Libro: “In this picture book, text and pictures interact with bland colours, resulting in an atmosphere that shows the pain of having a brother with a brain disease, a difficult issue to deal with in a book for children: A intimate book, toys are witness of childhood games, proximity, resignation, acceptance and love”.