Silent books

Silent Books are wordless picture books.^[1]^[2]

In 2012, the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) launched its Silent Books project in response to the large numbers of refugees from the Middle East and Africa on the island of Lampedusa, Italy. The first part of the project was to provide books to local and refugee children that could be read regardless of language. This led to the creation of the first library on Lampedusa. The second part of the project was to create collections of silent books. Over 100 books from 20 countries were collected from IBBY's national sections. One set was deposited at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, another at the library in Lampedusa, and another as part of a travelling exhibition. Since then, IBBY has created new collections of silent books biennially.^[3]

IBBY Italia and IBBY Sweden have both produced guides for reading silent books.

Lampedusa collections

Individual books are nominated by IBBY's national sections, and the collections are displayed at IBBY congresses and at the annual Bologna Children's Book Fair.

Lampedusa collection 1 (2013)

110 books were nominated from 4 continents^[4]
Honour list:

Daniel Defoe & Ajubel, Robinson Crusoe, Media Vaca, 2008
Ara Jo, 로켓 보이 (The Rocket Boy), Hansol soo book, 2011
Raymond Briggs, The Snowman, Puffin, 2011 [First published in 1978]
Katy Couprie & Antonin Louchard, Tout un monde (A whole world), Thierry Magnier, 1999
Suzy Lee, 파도야 놀자 (Wave), BIR Publishing Co., 2009 [First published by Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2008]
Madalena Matoso, Todos Fazemos Tudo (We all do everything), Planeta Tangerina, 2011, [First published by Éditions Notari, Genève 2011]
Gonzalo Moure Trenor & Alicia Varela, El arenque rojo (The red herring), SM, 2012
Shaun Tan, The Arrival, Lothian Children's Books, 2006
Marije & Ronald Tolman, De boomhut (The tree house), Uitgeverij Lemniscaat, 2009
David Wiesner, Flotsam, Clarion Books, 2006

Honorary Mention Amnesty International:

Nicole De Cock, Aan de overkant (On the far side), Gottmer Publishing Group, 2006

Honorary Mention IBBY Italia:

Iela Mari & Enzo Mari, La mela e la farfalla (The apple and the butterfly), Babalibri, 2004 [First published in 1969]

Honorary Mention Palazzo Delle Esposizioni:

Bente Olesen Nyström, Hr. Alting (Mr. Everything), Gyldendal, 2006

Lampedusa collection 2 (2015)

51 books were nominated from 18 countries^[5]
Honour list:

Ronan Badel, L’ami paresseux (The Lazy Friend) Autrement/Gecko Press, 2014 (nominated by IBBY France / IBBY New Zealand)
Emmi Jormalainen, Puu (TheTree) Studio Panama, 2013 (nominated by IBBY Finland)
Su-yeon Kim, Eoneu Badatgaeui Haru (A Day at the Beach) Borim Press, 2012 (nominated by KBBY)
Eva Maceková, 12 Hodin s Oskarem (12 hours with Oscar) Baobab, 2012 (nominated by IBBY Czech Republic)
Fanette Mellier, Dans la lune (On the Moon) Editions du Livre, 2013 (nominated by IBBY France)

Menzione Autorita Garante Per L'Infanzia e L'Adolescenza:

Patti Kim, Sonia Sánchez, Neoneun jigeum eodie inni (Where are you? Here I am) Must B Publishing Co., 2014

Menzione Amnesty International:

Alison Jay, Out of the Blue, Barefoot Books, Oxford, 2014.

Lampedusa collection 3 (2017)

79 books were nominated from 20 countries^[6]
Honour list:

Gregory Rogers, The boy, the bear, the baron, the bard and other dramatic tales, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest NSW, 2015
Niels Pieters, Vos en Goudvis, (Fox and goldfish), De Eenhoorn, Wielsbeke, 2015
JonArno Lawson, Sidney Smith, Sidewalk Flowers, Groundwood Books, Toronto, 2015
Lars Bo Peterson, Over Under, Carlsen, Copenhagen, 2016
Bastien Contraire, Les Intrus (The intruders), Albin Michel jeunesse, Paris, 2016
Marie Poirier, Vu d'en haut (Seen from above), Editions des Grandes Personnes, Paris, 2016
Giovanna Zoboli, Mariachiara di Giorgio, Professione coccodrillo (Professional crocodile), Topipittori, Milano, 2017
Maurizio A. C., Quariello, 45, Orecchio Acerbo, Roma, 2017
Junko Murayama, Sawaru Meiro 1 & 2, (Braille mazes 1 & 2), Shogakukan, Tokyo, 2015
Arnoud Wierstra, Babel (Babel), Gottmer, Amsterdam, 2016
Charlotte Dematons, Holland op z'n moist (The most beautiful Holland) Leopold/Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Amsterdam, 2015
David Pintor, Barcelona (Barcelona), Kalandraka, Pontevedra, 2015
Marla Frazee, The farmer and the clown, Beach Lane Books, New York, 2014.

Lampedusa collection 4 (2019)

67 books were nominated from 16 countries^[7]
Honour list:

Ayesha AlBadi, Ah, it’s inflating!, AlFulk, United Arab Emirates 2018
Marta Bartolj, Kje Si? (Where are you?), Miš založba, Dob 2018
Ilan Brenman, Guilherme Karsten, Engaños (Tricks), V&R Editoras, Buenos Aires/Ciudad de México 2017 (ed. or. Melhoramentos, Brasil 2015)
Jorge Campos, Alter-Nativo (Alter-Native), Aira Editorial, Baixo 2017
Icinori, E poi, Orecchio Acerbo, Roma 2018 (ed.or. Albin Michel Jeunesse, Paris 2018)
Eva Lindström, Limpan är sugen (Sizzler is peckish), En bok för alla, Stockholm 2017
Sven Nordqvist, Hundpromenaden (The Dog Walk), Opal, Bromma 2018
Nazli Tahvili, Chalk Eagle, Tiny Owl, London 2018
Judith Vanistendael, Blokje om (Round the block), Querido Kinderboeken, Amsterdam 2018
Geert Vervaeke, Tierendium. Een kijk-en zoekboek (Zoo. A search-and-find book), Lannoo, Tielt

Menzione Speciale Palazzo Delle Esposizioni:

Sassafras de Bruyn, De jager en zijn hond: een wonderlijke reis door de wereld van Bruegel (The Hunter and his Dog – A journey through the wonderous world of Bruegel), Lannoo, Tielt, 2018

Menzione Speciale Amnesty International:

Ji Hyeon Lee, La porta (The door), Orecchio Acerbo, Roma 2018 [originally Iyagikot Publishing, Seoul 2017]

Lampedusa collection 5 (2021)

76 books were nominated from 22 countries^[8]
Honour list 2021:

Stedho (Steven Dhondt), Daan Quichot: De spaghetti van opa Pier (Daan Quichot: Grandpa Pier's spaghetti), Baeckens Books, Mechelen, 2019 (Belgium)
Peter Van den Ende, Zwerveling (The wanderer), Lannoo, Tielt, 2020 (Belgium)
Cécile Gariép, Objet perdu (Lost object), Les Éditions de la Pastèque, Montreal, 2019 (Canada)
Kinga Rofusz, Otthon (Home), Vivandra books, Budapest, 2018 (Hungary)
Javier Sáez-Castán & Manuel Marsol, Museum, Orecchio acerbo, Rome, 2019 (Italy)
Group Mokomoko, Sanbiki no kobuta (The three little pigs: cloth picture book), Group Mokomoko, Tokyo, 2020 (Japan)
Deok-Kyu Choi, 커다란 손 (Father big hands), YUNedition, Goyang, 2020 (Korea)
Jeon Mihwa, 그러던 어느 날 (Then one day), Munhakdongne Publishing Group, Seoul, 2019 (Korea)
Rajendra Bhakta Joshi & Binita Buddhacharya, चङ्गा (Kite), Nepalese Society for Children's Literature, Kathmandu, 2020 (Nepal)
Ram Kumar Pande & Dev Koimee, नेपाल र यती (Nepaland Yati), Nepalese Society for Children's Literature, Kathmandu, 2020 (Nepal)
Yanik Coat, Aleph, Gecko Press, Wellington, 2018 (orig. Albin Michel, Paris 2017) (New Zealand)
Karin Cyren, Maraton, Lilla Piratförlaget, Stockholm, 2019 (Sweden)
Albertine, Séraphine : l’anniversaire (Séraphine: the birthday), La Joie de lire, Geneva, 2020 (Switzerland)
Mies van Hout, Guck-Guck! Dreieckig (Peekaboo! Triangle), Aracari Verlag, Zurich, 2018 (Switzerland)
Mies van Hout, Guck-Guck! Viereckig (Peekaboo! Rectangle), Aracari Verlag, Zurich, 2018 (Switzerland)
Mies van Hout, Guck-Guck! Rund (Peekaboo! Round), Aracari Verlag, Zurich, 2018 (Switzerland)

Lampedusa collection 6 (2023)

70 books were nominated from 22 countries^[9]
Honour list:

Freya Blackwood, The Boy and the Elephant, HarperCollins, Sydney, 2021 (Australia),
Ruth Ohi, Blanket, Groundwood, Toronto 2022 (Canada)
Rafael Yockteng, Jairo Buitrago, Ugh! Un relato del Pleistoceno, Babel Libros, Colombia 2022 (Colombia)
Óscar Pantoja, Flor Capella, Cazucá, Rey Naranjo, Bogotà 2020 (Colombia)
Kati Närhi, Kadoksissa, Capuchina kustannus, Finland 2022 (Finland)
Benjamin Gottwald, Spinne spielt Klavier, Carlsen Verlag Gmbh, Hamburg 2022 (Germany)
Jeugov, Il fiore ritrovato, Topipittori, Milano 2022 (Italy)
Lee Myung-ae, 휴가 (Vacation), Kidari publishing.co, Republic of Korea 2021 (Republic of Korea)
Renske Gerstel, Rondo, Uitgeverij De Harmonie, Amsterdam 2021 (Netherlands)
Fran Parreño, (idea Gonçal López-Pampló), On va aquesta gent, Animallibres, Barcelona 2021 (Spain, OEPLI Organización Española para el Libro Infantil y Juvenil)

Futuro Anteriore:

Elena Safonova, Река, Albus corvus, Mosca 2021.
Topor, I Masochisti, Vanvere edizioni, Roma 2022.
Pino Tovaglia, Una storia lunga come, Lazy Dog, Milano 2022