Baek Heena's picture book 'Magic Candies' wins Italian literary award

All News 13:37 June 01, 2023

SEOUL, June 1 (Yonhap) -- Korean author Baek Heena's picture book "Magic Candies" has won the SuperPremio Anderson 2023, a top prize from Italy's most prestigious children's book awards.

"Magic Candies" was chosen as the book of the year from the award dedicated to the memory of Gualtiero Schiaffino, the founder of the Italian magazine Andersen, according to the magazine's homepage.

The announcement was made during a ceremony in Genoa in northwestern Italy on Saturday (local time).

An enlarged jury of nearly 200 booksellers, librarians, journalists and scholars from Italy voted for the book of the year.

First published in Korean in 2017, the story follows a boy who discovers a bag of candies and gets mystic hearing power.

The cover image of Baek Heena's picture book "Magic Candies," the winner of the SuperPremio Anderson 2023, is seen in this photo provided by its publisher Bear Books. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

It adds another award to the internationally acclaimed picture book artist, who is known for "Cloud Bread" (2004), "Strange Mom" (2016) and "I Am a Dog" (2019).

In 2020, Baek won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world's largest award for children's and young adult literature established by the Swedish government in 2002.