A children’s book titled “? e??? t?? ?a???a?” (Marina’s wish) is this year’s Cypriot recommendation to the Readers of Europe campaign for 2022, run by the Library of the Council of the European Union.
Every year the Permanent Representations of the 27 member states in Brussels are invited to recommend books from their countries to read over the summer, with a different theme every year. The theme for the third year of the Readers of Europe campaign was ‘Discover something new’, the idea being that every Permanent Representation selects a book from their country by an author who has published their first work within the last five years.
The book chosen by Cyprus this year is a short book for children written by Alexia Papachristoforou and illustrated by Effie Lada, and is the story of a girl called Marina who makes a wish that her brother was like all the other children, until his actions help her to accept him the way he is.
The book is a great tool to start an open discussion with children about compassion and acceptance, the Library of the Council of the EU notes on its website.
Alexia Papachristoforou is from Pano Platres, Cyprus, works as a teacher and this is her first book. Effie Lada is an illustrator from Greece who specialises in children’s books.
The rest of the year’s recommendations are posted daily on the website of the Library of the Council of the EU.
In 2020, the Cypriot recommendation was “??e??e??? p???????µ????” (Free Besieged by Andreas Georgiades-Kyproleon. The 2021 recommendation was “??a ???assa ??’ ??a? ?a???” (A sea upon a time) by Loucas Fourlas.
SOURCE: CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY