From today the book about Terra Ultima is available in the English language. It is published by Big Picture Press, part of Bonnier Books UK. The translation is by Michelle Hutchison, winner of the 2020 International Booker Prize for her translation of The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld. The cover of the book is slightly different from the Dutch version, with a bit more gold and adjusted typography.

Now, the nature and wildlife of Terra Ultima might touch and amaze even more people. Hopefully it will help to reflect, protect and cherish nature on all continents. For nature is and remains truly miraculous and we are a deeply intertwined part of it, wether we are aware of it or not.

This Friday, September 29, during “het Kinderboekenbal” (the Children’s Book Gala), the book “Terra Ultima” has been awarded “Het Gouden Penseel” (the Golden Paintbrush) for the best illustrated children’s book of 2021. The award is one of the major literary prizes for Dutch Children’s and Young Adult literature.

Each year the jury of the CPNB (their main mission: to enrich people’s lives by having them read more books) selects and awards the best books published in the previous year. The winner of the Golden Paintbrush was selected from all the Silver Paintbrush winners awarded earlier this year.

Deleo: “I am really honored and flabbergasted at the same time. The book about the discovery of an unknown continent has been so lucky to get so much praise and publicity. As the discoverer, explorer and illustrator, this is all (and more) I hoped and wished for. A major thank you to everyone that helped me publish this book, especially the compiler, Noah J. Stern, and my publisher, Lannoo.”

This Saturday the jury of the Woutertje Pieterse Prize has chosen ‘Terra Ultima’ to be the best Dutch children’s book of the year. Raoul Deleo and Noah J. Stern received the prize during a special ceremony broadcasted by the radio program ‘De Taalstaat’ and presented by Frits Spits.

The Wouterje Pieterse Prize is the award for children’s books that are exceptional in terms of language, genre, theme, illustration, form and/or design. The aim of the prize is to promote the quality of books for children and young adults that are published in the Dutch language.

The jury, led by writer Abdelkader Benali, wrote this about Terra Ultima:

“Terra Ultima celebrates the imagination and the adventure between illusion and reality. It offers an unforgettable reading experience to old travelers and makes young hearts beat faster. A romantic exploration that shows that science and imagination can go beautifully hand-in-hand. Terra Ultima is a fabulous book to dream away with, a book to take seriously. A book that binds generations together.”

Fragments of the award ceremony can be seen and listen to here and here.

This Tuesday, January 4, the daily documentary show for young teenagers ‘Het Klokhuis’ will broadcast an item about the discovery of Terra Ultima on Dutch television.

For two days last summer, a filmcrew swarmed in and around Deleo’s studio. It was exciting and exhausting at the same time. But above all their professional approach and the final result were very impressive!

The program starts at 18:48h at NPO3 and can be viewed here.

The show is divided in three parts that are devoted to the art of Deleo:

Part 1: 0’00”- 2’58”
Part 2: 5’47”- 9’40”
Part 3: 12’00”- 14’27”