Simon the rabbit planted a lot of carrots but someone suggested he put lettuce, someone tomatoes, someone eggplants... and the garden grew, filling not only with vegetables but also with some very special farmers: the mouse, the chicken, the goat, the little pig, la raposa… The 10th Compostela International Prize for Illustrated Albums is a praise for collective work, coexistence in harmony and in contact with nature.

This is Rocío Alejandro's first book as an author and illustrator and is inspired by the community garden in her neighborhood. His work highlights the narrative progression of the text, which begins by telling the steps necessary to create a garden. It also uses the cumulative structure to present the characters that are successively incorporated into the story.

The illustrations, in ocher and orange tones consistent with the setting of the story, are made with the printing technique using inked stamps; a very laborious creative process because each and every part of each of the characters and utensils represented were printed individually with their corresponding stamp.

Due to the universal nature of this proposal, its clear ecological and community intention, and the different levels of reading it provides, “La huerta de Simón” transcends its apparent simplicity to reveal itself as a work with multiple readings.

■ Theme: collective work, collective relationship with the land.

■ Recommended age: from 5 years.

■ Highlights: 10th Compostela Award; agriculture, nature; coexistence, tolerance, generosity; stamping technique with inked stamps.

Pages: 44
Dimensions: 22.5 x 25cm
ISBN: 978-84-8464-349-4
Awards: 10th COMPOSTELA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR ILLUSTRATED ALBUMS - 2017
CUATROGATOS FOUNDATION AWARD 2019
Language: Spanish