A Bridge of Children's Books

This is the story of Jella Lepman who having left Germany to escape the Nazi regime in the 1930s chose to return in the aftermath of the Second World War as Adviser on the Cultural and Educational Needs of Women and Children. She soon decided that what Germanys war-ravaged children needed was to see a world of the imagination beyond their landscape of bombed-out buildings and military vehicles. Battling bureaucracy and enlisting the support of people such as Eleanor Roosevelt she founded the International Youth Library (IYL) in Munich filling a huge void in the lives of Germanys children with books from all corners of the world. The IYL included a childrens art studio writing classes readings foreign language classes and the foundation of the Young Peoples United Nations. Now located in beautiful Blutenberg Castle in Munich the library today is home to over 500 000 childrens books in 130 languages. Never one to retire from a challenge Jella soldiered on and in the early 1950s established IBBY the International Board on Books for Young People now a worldwide movement with over sixty national sections. The book includes photographs from the 1940s and 1950s illustrating Jella Lepmans work and achievements.