Christos Boulotis The apricot tree that grew inside a red shoe

The apricot tree that grew inside a red shoe

Christos Boulotis    The apricot tree that grew inside a red shoe

picture book | 6+
ISBN: 978-960-594-131-4 • Price: 18,00€  • 26Χ28,5 cm. • Pages: 40

The apricot tree that grew inside a red shoe
Photini Stephanidi

 

The book | An inspiring story by the multi-award-winning author Christos Boulotis and illustrated by Photini Stephanidi, nominee for the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen International Award, about the impossible becoming possible through a deep belief in the beauty of the world, companionship and acceptance.

A fairy tale that encourages children to strive to make the world a better
place.

The author | Christos Boulotis was born at Myrina on the island of Limnos. He is an archaeologist and a member of the Athens Academy. Having previously taught at the Ionian University he now teaches both in the postgraduate programs of the University of Athens and the School of Fine Arts. He has conducted excavations on the islands of Crete, Limnos and Santorini and in Peloponese. Since 1987 he has been a prolific author of children’s books, with more than seventy titles published. His first published work, «The Strange Love of the White Horse and the Poplar Tree» was awarded the Pier Paolo Vergerio prize in 1989. «The Water-Melon Thief» and «The Statue Who Was Always Cold» won the annual prize awarded by the Greek Section of IBBY in 2003 and 2000 respectively.

Photini Stephanidi Painter, illustrator, engraver
Born in Greece in 1962, the artist and illustrator Photini Stephanidi - daughter of the painter Yannis Stephanidis - completed her studies in painting and fresco at the Athens School of Fine Arts in 1986, where her teachers included painters of international repute such as Giannis Moralis, Dimitris Mytaras and Constantine Xinopoulos. Since 1988 she has exhibited her work in more than twenty individual and many group and international exhibitions of painting, engraving and illustration both in Greece and abroad. Her pictures have featured in about a hundred of published works, including editions of Greek folk tales, literature and poetry, and she has made a speciality of collectors’ editions. Notable among the many prizes and distinctions her work has gained in the fields of engraving, illustration and, more recently, as an author, are the Bratislava Illustrators’ Biennale Plaque (2001), the Greek State Prize for Illustration (2003, 2007 and 2011), the Belgrade Illustrators’ Biennale ‘Golden Pen’ (2005 and 2013) and 'Plaquette' (2010), the first prize for illustrations from the Greek Section of IBBY (1995, 2005 and 2011), EBGE prize and mention 2007 and 2013, her selection as the Hellenic Republic’s candidate for the 2004 Hans Christian Andersen Prize, and for the 2008 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Awards. In 2023 she was chosen to create the poster for International Children’s Book Day which will represent Greece and achieve world-wide circulation.