The Dark and the Light
Age 4+
Picture Storybooks
In the land of darkness lives a shaggy but lovable creature.
He is pining away because he has lost his home and has lived in the dark ever since. One day, the shaggy creature is overcome with curiosity and ventures out to the edge of the darkness. There, bathed in sunlight and bright colors, lives a very different and gentle creature.
The two inhabitants of these different world become friends, and with his new friend, the shaggy creature overcomes his loss and finds his way back to the world of color.
A quietly poetic story, told by Kerstin Hau, which gives hope and courage in difficult times. With contrasting imagery by Julie Völk, this book shows that life can be light, colorful, black, grey, and everything in between.
Creators
Kerstin Hau was born in Darmstadt, Germany, where she works as an author and specialist journalist. She graduated in physiotherapy, also studied media system design and specialized journalism, and later obtained a degree at the Akademie für Kindermedien (Children’s Media). Since 2015 she has devoted herself mainly to writing for children and adults, and she hopes that her stories will touch the hearts of young and old and enrich their lives.
Julie Völk was born in Vienna, Austria. She later moved to Hamburg, North Germany, where she studied illustration at the University of Applied Sciences. Her pictures tell stories about growing up, strange meetings and unusual aspects of life, and her clear, delicate style combines realism with fantasy, which gives her illustrations a highly original atmosphere. She now lives and works just outside Vienna. In 2018, she was named an IBBY Honored Illustrator.
