Ryoji Arai (Japan)
I am very grateful for the opportunity to be one of the judges of this unique picture book writing contest. What made me happier was to read the manuscripts from all over the world. These manuscripts from different countries made me feel the attention and passion that people in different parts of the world have for picture books. As I read through the stories, the differences among countries and regions didn't bother me at all. I think picture books have the power to narrow cultural differences. When I read Sometimes, Suddenly..., one of the winners of the Gold Prize, I felt that this manuscript was certainly relevant to the present, but its "fun" would be with us for a long time to come, and it was an excellent story that made us see the "universality" of picture books. I am very happy to join in a such joyful contest, and I sincerely hope that it will continue in the future.

Ajia (China)
The manuscripts of this year are all quite good, with each having sparkling points, and many are quite inspiring. So as a member of the panel, I felt that it was not so easy to select the winners. I was particularly pleased with the manuscripts that came from different countries, regions and cultures, but the attention for childhood and humanity was so similar that it was actually very easy to understand and appreciate the stories after we crossed the language barrier, and the childlike whimsy in the stories was both familiar and exciting. I think when the world was young, we probably all belonged to the same family. I also found that some of the topics were quite popular, but different writers would approach them in different ways, in fact trying out various ways of expression. But for me, I felt more joyful when I read the original stories. From this perspective, being a judge in this contest was indeed a pleasant experience.

Jill Davis (USA)
I was honored to judge the Astra International Picture Book Contest. Reading the submissions gave me a peek into how writers from all around the world imagine telling stories to children, and I found in them a combination of thoughtfulness, emotion, magic, and vivid imagination. The picture books I responded to were the ones I was able to visualize in my mind's eye--the ones that made me smile or spoke to me with beautiful metaphoric writing, such as Sometimes, Suddenly…; or the ones I imagined young children asking to hear again and again, such as Chameleon-red. I especially love a picture book voice that sounds very convincing and original and absurd. I found this to be the case with An Octopus on My Head. I laughed a lot, and I know kids would enjoy the humor in every stage the character experiences. I want to thank everyone who entered the contest. It is always an act of bravery to share your work, and I am confident that if you continue to work hard as you have, you will find yourselves on the path to being the picture book writers of tomorrow.

Sabine Fuchs (Austria)
Good picture books need not only excellent pictures, but also excellent texts. The reduced text length in particular requires a clever choice of words, witty language and, above all, scope for individual visualizations. An empathetic narrative approach is also required, as well as a story that is told again and again from new perspectives with diverse actors. The texts submitted to this year's Astra International Picture Book Writing Contest show a wide range of topics (from the daily way to kindergarten, friendship to philosophical questions), as well as diverse writing styles (from classic storytelling in prose to rhyming forms to free association). This is also reflected in the winning texts: thought experiments that make you think (Sometimes, Suddenly...), a story about inner growth (Chameleon-red) and the story of a fantastic animal friendship (An Ocotopus on My Head). And all of them are written in such a way that there is plenty of room for the artists to add their individual readings with their pictures.

Sophie Van der Linden (France)
It's certainly not easy to read the texts of picture books in isolation from their context, which is formed by the illustrations, layout and format of the book. The texts received, and in particular those that have won prizes, show the essential characteristics of a picture book text: orality, rhythm, a sense of brevity and simplicity, which are an economy of means since it can only fully reveal itself in complementarity with the illustrations.

Dolores Prades (Brazil)
The Astra International Picture Book Contest seeks to restore the importance of literary text in a context where illustrations dominate the realm of picture books. What I have observed over the years as a member of the juries is a growing emphasis on the precision and expression of words. What many consider to be the easy aspect of children's books is, in fact, their greatest challenge: how to convey, without excess, in a poetic and open language that still leaves room for illustrations. The international nature of the contest is also a significant aspect as it enables a highly representative diversity in terms of themes and narrative styles.