Photo by Vygandas Juozaitis

Selemonas Paltanavičius (b. 1956) is a creative overachiever. He has been talking, writing and narrating about nature for more than four decades now. A born natural scientist, he obtained a degree in biology and worked at the Žuvintas nature reserve. He has also been working in various environment protection organisations. Most people know him as the author and host of radio shows, as a participant in the LRT television project Nacionalinė ekspedicija (National Expedition), and as a regular expert on TV news, comprehensively explaining nature’s various phenomena and tricks. Miraculously, he is also the author of nearly 70 books ranging from fiction and journalism to science. Literary fairy tales, short stories, nature sketches, encyclopaedias – a great variety of children’s and young adult books where scientific facts are usually presented through fictional imagery. The author’s style has a particular character, his every work given warmth by his subjective approach and personal connection. He’s very sensitive to the beauty and variety of nature. At the same time, he is very compassionate toward the children and skilful in revealing the children’s view of the world. 

Sniego žmogelių žiema (The Winter of Little Snowmen). Vilnius: Alma littera, 2019, – 64 pp.  

An incredibly warm and cosy collection of short fairy tales about little adventures and everyday life of miniature snowmen. The snowmen are playful, childlike creatures who show up with the snow and melt away with it. Their life consists of playing games and rejoicing in the world. Things we don’t necessarily like spark the greatest delight in them: the howl of a dog or the whiteness of the snow. They also ponder a few big questions about life and death, the cycle of life and the seasons – the spring is bound to come and they’ll melt… and then what? In 2019, the Lithuanian section of the IBBY selected The Winter of Little Snowmen as the winner of the Pranas Mašiotas Award for the best children’s and young adult Book of the Year.