That is why we had to work in groups of three people, in most cases with those who, for any reason, we hadn’t had the chance to do it before, and prepare a 5-minute presentation to try and convince our classmates that the author we had become experts in (or kind of), deserved to be chosen as the most relevant in Children’s Literature.

It must be said that I wasn’t aware of the exciting life that most of them had/are having, and I am truly convinced that Roald Dahl, which was the one that my group was in charge of presenting (thanks Ali and Carmen!), should be at the very top of that list. Not only was he a writer, but also a pilot and even a spy. Moreover, his strong desire to help his children, made him design a valve to solve one of his son’s medical conditions… He was a truly interesting man.

Anyway, is it enough (having an exciting life, I mean) to be considered as the best author? Probably not, but if you scratch a little bit, you will find that he won not only some of the most important prizes regarding Children Literature, but also gained the respect of his profession. Not everybody can say that there is a prize named after them, nor a Museum devoted to his works.

Nevertheless, every minute of the presentations was worthy, because the other groups did a great work introducing David Shannon and his No, David!, Eric Carle and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Julia Donaldson and The Gruffalo, Maurice Sendak with Where The Wild Things Are, Marc Brown and his aardvark Arthur, Dr. Seuss and The Grinch, or E.B. White with Stuart Little. And there are more yet to be presented.

I guess that next time I go to a bookshop, I will look at the Children’s Literature shelves with more acknowledging eyes.