Quest

The Danish city of Aarhus is the 2017 European Capital of Culture. As part of the celebrations, 39 of the best emerging European writers for young people (the "Aarhus 39") have written original short stories on the theme "journey". Hay Festival presents the first 17 of these tales in this collection for children, while the remaining stories are featured in the companion volume Odyssey, aimed at young adults.

This wonderful anthology features an eclectic mix of genres, themes and styles: in the opening story from the UK, Beware Low-Flying Girls, Odile must face her innermost fears if she is to save her grandfather; in the Icelandic tale, The Great Book Escape, the life of a lonely librarian is transformed when she embarks on an epic journey to retrieve her books which have disappeared overnight; read about a touching friendship between a field mouse and a squirrel in Dagesh and Mappiq Are Friends from the Czech Republic; and The Travel Agency is a futuristic adventure from Finland, where holiday destinations are accessed through time-portals.

This outstanding collection, which effectively showcases the work of talented authors, illustrators and translators from around the world, is utterly captivating and cannot be recommended highly enough.