The Stone Animals (2008)

How can a dog turn into a statue? That is somewhat mysterious but exactly what happened: Ring, old Ulf’s dog turned into a statue and immediately all the grown-ups in our village behaved as if he’d never existed. And Ring wasn’t the only animal to disappear without a trace leaving a stone statue behind. We had to get to the bottom of it. Which is why Erla, Haukur, and myself entered Dark-cave on a more adventurous quest than anyone could ever have foreseen. According to the jury of the award this is an exciting and original adventure story inspired in folk-tales and legends, yet unique.

• The Icelandic Children’s Literature Prize 2008