[BHE 178] Book Hunting in Munich and Birmingham UK Plus PictureBooks from Epigram Books!

Myra here.

Every Sunday, we share the books that have found their way into our bookshelves. This week, I am especially excited as I will be sharing the books that found me while I was in Europe a month ago.

Book Hunting in Munich

Hugendubel

Apparently this is the biggest bookstore in Munich.

Naturally, I have to come here.

Here’s what’s curated inside the bookstore:

The children’s literature section:

And my loot

I couldn’t resist purchasing Paula Hawkins’ The Girl On The Train, and this is because I flew to Birmingham after leaving Munich to attend a conference.

For those of you who have been following our blog, you would know that I have a pretty good collection of notebooks from my travels.

And a coloring book! 🙂

Book Purchases from the International Youth Library in Munich

The reason for my visit in Munich is to do research at the International Youth Library or the Internationale Jugendbibliothek – reputed to be the most extensive international children’s literature library in the whole wide world. I was also able to buy a few books from here:

These catalogues were given to us by the wonderful librarians.

A Bridge of Children’s Books by Jella Lepman, the Mother of IYL.

The Art of Binette Schroeder.

See the inside pages of this gorgeous compilation of Binette Schroeder’s art:

Binette Schroeder is one of the most prolific children’s book artists in Germany. It was such a privilege to have met her when we were in Munich:

Book Hunting in Birmingham

I did a conference presentation for the IRSCL (International Research Society for Children’s Literature) held at the University of Birmingham.

The Norfolk Children’s Book Centre had such yummy books on display, I couldn’t help but purchase a few titles.

On display:

King & King!

Roger McGough gave his keynote this morning – and I totally spaced out and didn’t even know about it.

Since I can not possibly purchase them all, I exercised a measure of self-restraint and purchased these titles:

King & King by Linda de Haan & Stern Nijland

Challenging and Controversial Picturebooks: Creative and Critical Responses to Visual Texts edited by Janet Evans, The Little Prince: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Joan Sfar

I simply could not resist this Shaun Tan notebook!

Answering Back edited by Carol Ann Duffy

The Betrothed by Umberto Eco!!! I was so excited when I saw this, I didn’t care that my bag was already way heavy.

I also spent four days in London where I watched a play: The Railway Children and booked a studio tour of The Making of Harry Potter! Awesome, right?

I visited the Waterstones Bookstore while I was in London – but guess what? I managed not to purchase anything at all. See, I can exercise self-control every now and again.

Candy Gourlay was kind and generous enough to host me while I was in London and she gave me this fabulous tea towel as a going away present.

Picturebooks from Epigram Books

Several weeks back, I requested for these titles from Epigram Books as I wanted to bring the picturebook biographies of Lee Kuan Yew to Perth for my IBBY-WA talk. I also requested for a few other titles that have always intrigued me and I’ve always wanted to feature here in GatheringBooks:

A Boy Named Harry, Harry Grows Up, Harry Builds A Nation all written and illustrated by Patrick Yee.

Fann also by Patrick Yee.

The Rock and the Bird by Chew Chia Shao Wei, The Crane and the Crab by SR Nathan.

Goh Bee Lock and The Three Boars by KF Seetoh and Gavin Goo, Hansel and Girl Girl by Adrian Pang and Milenko Prvacki, Little Red in the Hood by Glen Goei and Drewscape.

I have always loved Epigram Books’ intiative to translate stories from around the world (see here for a few of the other titles in their series) and here is one other title to add to the list: Tim’s Moving Day by Anke Wagner and Eva Eriksson.

How about you, dear friends, what books found their way into your hands over the past weeks?