The Glue of the Family
Bilderbücher schaffen Momente der Nähe und öffnen gleichzeitig den Blick für die Vielfalt der Welt. Sagt der Kinderbuchautor und -illustrator Martin Baltscheit. Ein Gespräch über die Basis unserer kulturellen Bildung, über eigenwillige Charaktere und die Pflicht zum Happy End.
Jeremy Davies in The Million Dollar Hotel by Wim Wenders © 1999 Road Movies Filmproduktion - Courtesy of Wim Wenders Stiftung
Dear Martin, let's start with a fundamental question: do children still read enough today?
In my experience, no. Even my own children unfortunately read far too little. Instead, they mainly sit in front of moving pictures. The current form of storytelling - as unfortunate as that is - is the short film or film snippets such as Tiktok or YouTube videos. Scientists largely agree that this has consequences: the attention span decreases, as does patience. For most people, children as well as adults, it becomes more and more exhausting to engage in a longer story, let alone to immerse themselves in it.
Is reading to someone still important?
I think reading to someone aloud is enormously important. Listening to someone who takes us into another world – everyone is crazy about that! This way we are also able to gain experience without having to experience it ourselves. But unfortunately, it is also true for storytelling that attention spans have decreased. I also have to take this into consideration in my work. This means that the stories inevitably become shorter.
Whether short or long, what makes a good children's story?
A good story should be about loving, headstrong characters who surprise us again and again along the way, for example by taking absurd turns and by enabling us to look at the world in a new way. And of course, it all depends on the way the story is told. I like to say that I feel committed to a lush minimalism. This means I try to convey complex things in the simplest possible terms. And above all without 'the moral of the story is…'. Because children don't want to be lectured either.
“Ich fühle mich einem
üppigen Minimalismus
verpflichtet.”
"The magical power of picture books must be promoted," says Martin Baltscheit.
You are known for your ability to teach children about difficult topics such as democracy, integration and dementia. How do you do that?
In my opinion, the less worn out the story is, the greater the narrative possibilities are. That's why, as an author and illustrator, I often find such serious topics all the more interesting. They haven’t been exhausted yet. What also appeals to me about these topics is that you can easily slip into discussions about fundamental ideas with children and exchange ideas about values like freedom or justice or the meaning of life. I think there is hardly any topic that cannot be taught to a child. The most important thing is a happy and conciliatory ending, where there is hope and friends who support you, no matter what.
In Börsenblatt, a trade magazine for publishers and the book trade, you recently spoke out in favour of state funding for picture books so that young artists in particular can remain in the book industry. What might this support look like?
The picture book sector still has no lobby and urgently needs political recognition! I am thinking of a foundation that specifically supports picture book authors and illustrators. Every year a different jury could work through the submitted projects and select the suitable ones from among them. Further training would also be part of the foundation's programme. In this way, good ideas would be supported financially and ideationally. At the same time this would create a more general awareness with regards to a better quality in the world of picture books. In my opinion, this is something that is very lacking. To be honest, I don't understand why we support other important arts but leave picture books out. It is our cultural foundation! It is the first art form that children come into contact with and whose characters and stories shape them, in some cases, for the rest of their lives. Whether it is Pippi Longstocking or Greg and his diary. What's more, picture books are often what bind parents and children together, they are the glue of the family. They create moments of closeness and peace and at the same time open up the space for togetherness. When fathers or mothers read aloud, they become actors. They connect with their children in a unique way and through storytelling invite them to imagine themselves in other lives and other worlds. This magical power of picture books is something we should promote - and I am happy about every single person who is showing commitment to it.
You yourself have already shown your commitment, for example through the Picture Book Academy. What is the idea behind that?
In the Picture Book Academy, everyone who loves children's books can try their hand. Professionals as well as picture book lovers, but also publishers, schools or companies. Over two days, we focus on the ideas we have brought with us, learn more about the craft of writing and illustrating and also about good storytelling. This spring the first Picture Book Academy took place in Düsseldorf. Ten participants from very different fields presented their stories to each other and developed them further. From the gleeful angry citizen to the mermaid with depression, there was a bit of everything. A weekend full of ideas and moments of happiness, for me, personally, too.
Companies and institutions also request you to create children's books. To what extent are children at all interested in what companies have to say? And how would those stories look like?
When companies commission me to write a book, it's always about their values, which are to be told and conveyed in the form of a story. And in such a way that children, but also adults, understand the meaning and benefit behind it. For example, the activity of a legal protection insurance can be told very simply with a story about our rule of law. This creates a link to our constitutional system and the great advantages it has for us in Germany. It is therefore important to fill a company's set of values with content. In doing so, the respective companies are called upon to step into children`s shoes and look at things from this new perspective. And I believe that whoever does this - whether young or old - always experiences that the world has a lot of new things in store and that we all can take a part in shaping it. •
Words: Elena Winter
Pictures: PR, Susanne Werding