Kim Fupz Aakeson and Eva Eriksson (ill.)

The story of this book is played out in the 7 days which in our culture constitutes the creation, and as a result of which the working week. On the outside, there are quite trivial everyday activities such as shopping, cooking, tidying up, watching television and kissing goodnight. But on the inside, the reader follows the drama which unfolds in 5 or 6-year-old Torsten when Willy, his only and worst friend, plants doubt in his mind. Are my parents happy that they are going have a new baby because they don't love me any more?

The book is about the most important thing in a child's life, belonging and being surrounded by love and care, even when one is no longer the only one receiving attention.  Willy sows doubt and gives voice to doubt's negative consequences, when he tells Torsten that his parents don't think he is cute any more, and that he will perhaps be sent to an orphanage or can move into the library which is open and free. Carried away by doubt, Torsten asks questions about love at every given opportunity. He tidies up his room. He rediscovers his teddy bear. He imagines all sorts of possible scenarios. He dreams. And he gets true support from his grandmother. All these things lead him to making a list about what he knows about love. He finishes making the list just as his parents invite him to have Sunday breakfast in between them in their bed. And he feels - right now at least - that there is love enough for everybody.

The story is characteristic for Kim Fupz Aakeson and shows a form he truly masters: the tightly composed and idiomatic story which is familiar and logical for children and which rings true in children's ears when it is read aloud, but which also contains a wealth of small comments which are aimed at the adult reader to reflect on. The author manages to write so that the child's daily life reveals itself in all its thoughtfulness, in a broad emotional spectrum and using all its senses. Everyday life will therefore be recognizable for the children who hear the story, and the adult reader has the chance to keep up with the child's response to that which can otherwise seem mundane.

The book's illustrations do not just add to the words of the story, but enrich so much that all the facets of the text are upgraded, as it were. Everyday life becomes even more ordinary. The boy friends become even more philosophical. Grandmother becomes even more worldly-wise. Mr. Brix the teddy bear has even more soul. The symbols become stronger. And the senses become even more feeling. Imagine an illustrator who can depict a father enjoying the smell of his baby, not only with his oversized nose, but with the whole arch of his body like an organic extension of his nose. That is what you call a fragrance enhancer. On the other hand, the illustrations add subtle sub-plots to the story, such as, for example, in the imaginary scene where father, mother and the new baby come to visit the library where Torsten is sitting and reading on top of a book pyramid. The father holds the baby proudly out to Torsten, while the mother has her eyes fixed with interest on the books on the shelves.

We nominate this picture book because, within a tight framework, it manages to tell a story that could have been mundane and incredible, but instead allows children and adults to sense happiness in the fact there is enough love for everyone - at least for now. Søndag is a work in which both the text and the illustrations venture simplicity and give each other support and a response, so that here we experience a rare, genuine picture book of high artistic quality.

Cecilie Eken, Jens Raahauge, Søren Vinterberg.