Das außergewöhnliche Buch

(translation: The Extraordinary Book) is an international children's and youth literature prize. Since 2012, it has been awarded every year in September by the Children´s and Youth Literature Section of the International Literature Festival Berlin. The award without prize money honors remarkable books for children, teenagers and young adults. With six awards, Michael Ende won the prize most often. The most awarded books are Momo by Michael Ende and The Arrival by Shaun Tan, each of which received four awards.
General information
The extraordinary books are selected by a jury that changes annually and consists of guests of the children and youth program of the International Literature Festival Berlin. Each juror selects one book to be awarded. The jury of the award consists mainly of international writers and illustrators. In addition, scientists, politicians and young writers have also been members of the jury. Jury members in previous years have included Azouz Begag, John Boyne, Jennifer Clement, Roddy Doyle, Jón Gnarr, David Graeber, Robert Habeck, Navid Kermani, Geert Mak, Scott McCloud, David Van Reybrouck, Boualem Sansal, Riad Sattouf, Raoul Schrott and Meg Wolitzer. From 2012 to 2020, 224 jurors awarded 240 books with the prize.
Some of the extraordinary books that have been published so far include The Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, The Neverending Story by Michael Ende, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, the Struwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffmann, the Odyssey by Homer, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and Around the World in Eighty Days of Jules Verne.
Multiple award-winning books
Two books were awarded the prize four times:
* Momo by Michael Ende (2012, 2013, twice in 2019)
* The Arrival by Shaun Tan (2013, 2015, 2016, 2019)
One book was awarded the prize three times:
* Ronia, the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren (2012, 2018, 2019)
Thirteen books were awarded the prize twice:
* Watership Down by Richard Adams (2018, 2020)
* Skellig by David Almond (2016, 2020)
* Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (2016, 2020)
* The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (2012, 2019)
* Danny Champion of the World by Roald Dahl (2015, 2016)
* Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kästner (2015, 2017)
* The golden compass by Philip Pullman (2012, 2014)
* History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell (2012, 2013)
* Holes by Louis Sachar (2013, 2014)
* The River by Alessandro Sanna (2016, 2018)
* Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein (2014, 2016)
* The Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (2012, 2014)
* Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (2016, 2018)
Multiple award-winning writers
One author was awarded the prize six times:
* Michael Ende (for The Night of Wishes, The Neverending Story and Momo)
Two authors were awarded the prize five times:
* Roald Dahl (for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Danny Champion of the World, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More and The BFG)
* Shaun Tan (for The Lost Thing and The Arrival)
One author was awarded the prize four times:
* Astrid Lindgren (for Mio, my Mio and Ronia, the Robber's Daughter)
Three authors were awarded the prize three times:
* Tonke Dragt (for Letter to the King, Aan de andere kant van de deur and Torenhoog en mijlenbreed)
* Erich Kästner (for The 35th of May, or Conrad's Ride to the South Seas and Emil and the Detectives)
* Mark Twain (for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Roughing It)

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