The book LÆK is out: Launch party at Thorsplan

Crowded at Thorsplan for the LÆK! release party!

Nearly 3,000 young people attended the launch party for the book LÆK in two shifts at Thorsplan in Hafnarfjörður this morning, first the middle school pupils and then the upper school pupils from the town's primary schools. They celebrated the book, which they had helped to write, and danced with the boys from VÆB. The launch party is one of the largest ever held in the country. The young people will be presented with the book at their schools today, and it will be worked with in all of Hafnarfjörður's schools in May.

„They're brilliant. The ideas we got were absolutely fantastic. It's not something you'd think of on your own,“ says author Gunnar Helgason, who, like Bergrún Íris Sævarsdóttir, wrote short stories for the book LÆK with the students. He worked with ideas from secondary school pupils and she with middle school pupils, nine stories each. „Yes,“ says Bergrún. „They are so limitless and think outside the box.“ Bergrún has written and illustrated dozens of books. „It was a challenge to take a variety of ideas and still create a story with soul and heart, while maintaining my own voice.“ Bergrún and Gunni hosted the launch event this morning.

18 stories from 2600 ideas

The book consists of 18 short stories based on suggestions from nearly 2,600 students. They were drawn from the suggestions in a live stream, and Gunni Helga says that the work was carried out in very close collaboration with the young people. „As a writer, it's brilliant to be in that conversation, because they're not just a collaborative group but also the readership, so it's fantastic to hear what they want.“ And what was that? „The two threads running through it were fantasy and love.“

Bergrun says that in many ways it's easier to connect with the fertile minds of children with ADHD. „Many of them straightened up and thought they could take up space when I met them in the schools; I told them so and worked on the characterisation with them.“ A short story made up of a thousand monkeys in an aeroplane, a Chinese circus and a garage. „I learnt a lot from this. Nothing is impossible.“

An encouragement to read and understand

LÆK is a collaborative project between the Education and Public Health Department of Hafnarfjörður and the two authors. The book is intended to enhance reading comprehension, vocabulary, literacy and reading interest among students in the middle and upper years of Hafnarfjörður's primary schools, at all ability levels. The short stories are linked to each school, and two stories were written for each of them. For the publication of LÆK, emphasis was placed on a high-quality text layout, and a good font and font size suitable for pupils with reading difficulties. The book is also being released simultaneously as an audiobook by the National Audiobook Library. In addition to the short stories, the book includes a short section for parents and teachers on how to deepen pupils' reading comprehension.

However, the book LÆK is not just for people from Hafnarfjörður; it will also be available in all shops. But will the book definitely be read? „Yes, I have no doubt about that, because now a competition is getting underway,“ says Gunni. „Prizes will be awarded for the best story in the junior and middle school categories, and everyone will have to vote for their favourite story. You're not allowed to vote for your own school. So, at the end of May, it will be revealed which school gets the prizes. The school honour is at stake.“

A huge congratulations on the book, everyone. It's brilliant, just like you!