2023 Prix Albertine Jeunesse Winners

The Prix Albertine Jeunesse, a reader’s choice award, invites children to choose their favorite book from a selection of works of French-language youth literature available in English translation.

3-5 YEARS OLD | 2023 Winner

By Richard Marnier, Aude Maurel
Translated by Emma Ramadan

Published by Frimousse

From French author-illustrator duo Richard Marnier and Aude Maurel comes a captivating picture book about creativity, diversity, and self-expression. In a town where everyone follows the rules, one neighbor’s decision to leave the light on at night completely disrupts the neighborhood, sparking a creative revolution. Vibrant, poetic, and fun, Who Left the Light On? playfully teaches the powerful lesson that diversity, creativity, and individuality should be celebrated.

La lumière allumée, Frimousse, 2015

6-8 YEARS OLD | 2023 Winner

By Jean-Luc Fromental, Joëlle Jolivet
Translated by Abrams Books for Young Readers

Published by Helium

From the amazing success of the documentary March of the Penguins to the popular penguins in Madagascar to this fall’s upcoming penguin-themed movie Happy Feet, penguins are everywhere! That’s especially true for the family in 365 Penguins, who find a penguin mysteriously delivered to their door every day for a year. At first they’re cute, but with every passing day, the penguins pile up—along with the family’s problems. Feeding, cleaning, and housing the penguins becomes a monumental task. They’re noisy and smelly, and they always hog the bathroom! And who on earth is sending these kwaking critters? In a large format, and with lots of opportunity for counting, 365 Penguins…

365 Pinguins, Helium

9-11 YEARS OLD | 2023 Winner

By Jean-Claude Mourlevat
Translated by Ros Schwartz

Published by Gallimard-jeunesse

When Jefferson the hedgehog goes to his hairdresser’s, he’s shocked to discover the barber lying dead on the floor. Falsely accused of murder, Jefferson must go on the run with his best friend Gilbert the pig to uncover the real killers. Adventure, dark secrets and a most unlikely series of hair-raising events await Jefferson and his fellow animals as they travel into the Land of the Humans . . .

Jefferson, Gallimard-jeunesse, 2021

12-14 YEARS OLD | 2023 Winner

By François Place
Translated by William Rodarmor

Published by Casterman

After finding a huge tooth on the docks, English explorer Archibald Leopold Ruthmore sets out to seek the race of giants to whom the tooth belongs and discovers nine giants, the survivors of a singularly gentle and kindly race. He lives among them for ten months, and on returning home he makes a mistake that he regrets forever―he writes a book revealing their existence and location.

Les derniers géants, Casterman, 1992

The theme of this year’s prize selection was “Coexisting.”

Want more? Read the shortlist here

Announcing the 2023 Prix Albertine Jeunesse Laureates!