It’s important kids find some mirror in literature so they feel they are not alone: Kristín Ragna Gunnarsdóttir

Born in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, Kristín Ragna Gunnarsdóttir is an award-winning author and illustrator writing and drawing books for children. Gunnarsdóttir’s works that rely on mythological Norse gods, as well as modern volcano eruptions, are so famous in the Nordic region, she is often asked to mount exhibitions for children across Europe to make them read and even tell their own small stories. A prominent speaker at the recently-concluded 15th edition of Jaipur Literature Festival, the Icelandic author drew a huge audience, including schoolchildren from the Pink City who were animated by the energy of characters of her books, such as the recent Wolf, Edda and the Stolen Relic. Gunnarsdóttir spoke with Faizal Khan at the festival about the state of children’s literature today and the effect of the pandemic on children and reading:

How important is Nordic and Icelandic children’s literature in contemporary culture in the region?

It is really important. We have an extra importance in Iceland because we are few people and our language is the core of our national identity. So it is really important we are writing new books for children in our language and also get them to be passionate about using the language as their tool, not just something that you study at school and you have to learn the grammar or something. That is something that empowers you. You are good at a language and one language leads to other languages. Knowing one’s mythology leads us to be curious about the mythology of others. So I think it opens gates to other people’s lives. I feel it is very important today that literature opens up and broadens the horizon for children so that they feel kinship with other places.

What is the role of translations of books for children across languages in the world?

It is important for children to put themselves in the shoes of other children in other places that are dealing with the same questions. If you have only the literature of your language and the children’s literature of your language, it is like a box. I really think we have to open that box up. Today, it is important that children read a wide variety of books from different places so that they gain empathy and open mindedness and acceptance.

Could you comment on the state of children’s literature in the world today?

In the Nordic countries we have quite a high standard of children’s literature. Children’s literature deals with all kinds of pressing issues. They are not afraid to have children’s literature being involved with all kinds of things that in some place may seem to be taboo.

What is the impact of superhero movies on children?

I have so much fun reading to schoolchildren. They, of course, always bring up these characters from comic books. I have to go and look up the movies so that I can have a discussion about how these movies have interpreted various aspects of our culture. It is so interesting that the children want to talk about it and I love those discussions.

What has been the impact of the pandemic on children and reading?

It is really important that we engage with the fact that this was very hard for children. For them two years of their life is a long long time. I have met children who have never before sat in a room listening to stories.

We really have to use children’s literature, creativity and arts to open a discussion because they also have to be able to voice their anxieties, thoughts and isolation. I think art is a good tunnel for that.

How does literature help in handling the issue of identity for children in a chaotic world of pandemic, war and refugee crisis?

It is an important issue in children’s literature. It is very important that all children find some mirror in literature. Their problems can be all kinds. It is hard to be a child. You have only a limited amount you can really steer in your life. By reading books, they also feel that they are not alone. Also by feeling this sense of identity steering their way through literature. It is important that they feel they are within a group and there are others who are dealing with these problems. And they are not alone. They gradually get to know what is at the core of yourself and your personal identity. And I think all children are searching for it.

What does illustrating for children mean to you?

I love illustrating. I just try to have fun in what I do. I try to use discarded material because of environmental issues. I use them in creative workshops for children to make their own kind of mythological monsters out of it.

A lot of children today are becoming climate warriors, speaking out against the adults and global leaders not doing enough.

This is a big issue. I write about it in one of my books. I have made the climate issue the underlying core. Another is the influence of social media. I often have these issues brewing underneath so children can also see them in a fun way, because it is not good if children are only filled with anxiety. They have to feel that there is a way out. We can imagine a better world and we can make it a better world. We have to empower our children, not just dump all the worries of the world on them because we are not helping anybody by doing that.

You are a big supporter of public libraries for children.

Library is a museum of stories, all the stories there are within that building. If you think about it like the imagination of everyone that is reading a book, it is so much power emerging from the library. So it is a power bank.

What about the impact of technology on the reading habits of children?

I really want the physical books to have a life. There is nothing that is the same as sitting with a child with a physical book. There is something that happens when you turn the page. It is a bit theatrical in a way. You lose that in technology. But there are other things that come with technology. I think we should just embrace it all, not use one to eliminate another. We also have to be wary of the power of visual images and we have to be critical of what it is that we are depicting in images. We have to take care that children have a pictorial literacy because they have to be critical in thinking also. They have to be able to think, what is someone trying to tell me here. In doing this with children’s literature, it is the best place because we are telling stories with both pictures and words. Children are really reading the pictures, and reading into the pictures.

Faizal Khan is a freelancer