Description

Illustrated by Torseter, Øyvind; By (author) Øvreås, Håkon; Translated by Dickson Kari

Short /annotation
New in the neighborhood and hounded by fort-wrecking bullies, Rusty is looking glum. And to top it all off, his grandfather has just died. Rusty is stuck sorting out his emotions while the adults are busy sorting out the “practicalities” with the hospital. But one dark night, after watching a superhero movie on TV, Rusty gets an idea…

“Brown is a warm and powerful story of friendship and courage, full of creativity and everyday magic.”—From the jury statement, Nordic Council Children”s and Young People”s Literature Prize

Guided by his grandfather’s ghost, two cans of paint, and a little help from his friends, Brown can do anything! Just as long as nobody”s parents find out.

Brown is the fantastical first book in the award-winning My Alter Ego Is A Superhero series from Norway, Brown has been sold into twenty-seven languages and is illustrated throughout by the now-familiar and beloved Øyvind Torseter.

New in the neighborhood and hounded by fort-wrecking bullies, Rusty is looking glum. And to top it all off, his grandfather has just died. Rusty is stuck sorting out his emotions while the adults are busy sorting out the “practicalities” with the hospital. But one dark night, after watching a superhero movie on TV, Rusty gets an idea… Dressed in brown pants, a black-and-brown striped shirt, a brown mask and cape, and his mother’s brown belt, the superhero BROWN is born! Guided by his grandfather’s ghost, two cans of paint, and a little help from his friends, Brown can do anything! Just as long as nobody”s parents find out.

Øyvind Torseter is a Norwegian artist and illustrator who has created eight books on his own and several with other authors. He’s received numerous awards for his books, including a Bologna Ragazzi Award and the Norwegian Book Art Prize. In 2014, Øyvind was a finalist for the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award. Other titles with Enchanted Lion Books include: My Father’s Arms Are a Boat, The Hole, Why Dogs Have Wet Noses, The Heartless Troll and others.

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Nominated for the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis 2017
Winner of the German Luchs des Jahres (Best Children and YA Book) 2016
Winner of the Dutch Zilveren Griffel (Silver Pen) 2015
Selected as Top 10 Teacher”s Choice by China Education Newspaper 2015
Winner of the Nordic Council”s Literary Prize for Children and Young Adults 2014

“Brown achieves a perfect balance between excitement and introspection, melancholy and humor … Torseter’s drawings, with the light washes of color that accompany them, deliver laughs and other emotions as needed. Dickson’s translation is swift and assured. Sentences are direct, with nary an adverb to be found. Aside from the universality of its themes—death, bullies, friendship, and growing up—the book’s power and charm arise as much because of what’s left out as what’s included. The presence of technology, for example, is distant; this could be a story from 60 years ago, and the book benefits from the absence with an increased focus on its characters. Brown is a wonderful book that deserves the many awards it’s received, among them the Norwegian Ministry of Culture’s Literature Prize. English-speaking audiences will eagerly await translations of the next two books in the series.”—STARRED REVIEW, Peter Dabbene, Foreword Reviews

“A reader doesn”t finish Brown. One sim