The Serpa International Award for Picturebooks is an initiative by the Serpa Town Council in partnership with the publisher Planeta Tangerina. This biennial award aims to develop the literary and artistic quality of the picturebook as a medium, while encouraging the creation of new projects in this area.
All projects submitted to the competition must be original and unpublished. We value projects which, due to their creativity and technical execution, can be enjoyed by both children and adults.
The jury consists of one representative of Serpa Town Council, one representative of the publisher Planeta Tangerina, and one guest judge coming from the national or international illustration scene.
Johanna Schaible is an artist and illustrator based in Switzerland. Her work moves between the boundaries of illustration, art and design. She is a graduate of the School of Art and Design in Lucerne, Switzerland. In 2019, her project for the book "Once upon a time (and many more will be)" was selected for the Unpublished Picturebook Showcase of the Dpictus platform.
Photo: Ruben Holliger
Isabel was born in Lisbon in 1974.
When she was a child, she wanted to be a journalist, an archaeologist or a pediatrician. She didn’t end up being any of those things, but she does love the job she does now.
She studied at the Lisbon College of Fine Arts, before working as a creative in children’s communication. Later, together with a group of friends, she founded the publisher Planeta Tangerina.
A number of her books have won prizes or been distinguished by institutions connected to the world of children’s books: White Ravens Catalogue, Andersen Prize, Banco del Libro, Portuguese Society of Authors (2015), Gustav-Heinemann Friedenspreis (2017), Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (2017). She has received nominations to the ALMA – Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2022 and 2023.
Many of her books have been published in other countries all over the world (France, Brazil, Korea, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Holland…).
Paula graduated in Architecture from the Faculty of Architecture at the Technical University of Lisbon, in 1994. From 1990 to 1993, Paula worked in the Technical Support Office in Beja. Since 1994, she has worked at the Serpa Town Council, where she has worked on projects such as the architectural conception of the Biblioteca Municipal Abade Correia da Serra.
Currently, she works within the Municipality's Culture and Heritage Division, where she monitors and promotes artistic and cultural initiatives, including the artistic expression workshops "Mãos na Massa", at the Serpa Library.
