Friday at Zenda. Fridays for children’s books. Friday, in this instance, dedicated to Sunnanang of the Eternal Spring, a tale by the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren (Vimmerby, 1907 – Stockholm, 2002) that has just been translated into Spanish by Esther Rubio Herráez and Ljungström Ulla for the publishing house Kókinos, responsible for reviving it and assembling with it a delicious illustrated edition in which Lindgren’s text, as devastating as it is oddly luminous, appears alongside the illustrations of visual artist Lupe Estévez.
The publisher itself notes, about the book: “Far, far away, in days of poverty, orphaned siblings Anna and Mattias grow up in a life filled with want and loneliness.
Their only hope is Sunnanang, a land of eternal spring, warmth, and abundance, where pain does not exist.
Guided by a mysterious red bird, the children embark on a journey toward this hopeful paradise.
Sunnanang is a story that embodies Astrid’s philosophy: children have the right to read stories that not only make them laugh, but also that give them “the possibility to cry and tremble, that is, to be moved.”
Sunnanang is a literary jewel that addresses hope and the search for a better world.”
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Author: Astrid Lindgren. Illustrator: Lupe Estévez. Translation: Esther Rubio Herráez and Ljungström Ulla. Title: Sunnanag of the Eternal Spring. Publisher: Kókinos. For sale: All Your Books.