Latvian Children's Jury Award 2015
Nominated for the National Book Art Contest Award "Golden Apple Tree" 2015
2017 Children's Jury Award

This book of the popular Latvian writer Juris Zvirgzdins was intented as the story for children about animals, flowers andtoys,telling in easy manner about compassion, fitting into the situatuon of someoneother, about solidarity and common activity which can help to solve problems. Author isn't giving instructions to his reader, isn't teaching, as well as renowned artist of the book Lina Dudaite. Her ideas inspiredthe writer to compose. At his texts is living the beloved hero-the bear Tobias andthe the new images as well-five years old girl Rasa,the dog Zorro and the unhappy lion Leo who losed his ability to roar and is waiting for the director of the ZOO who'll
turn him down.For this ability they'relooking at the yard of fierce dog, at the sig-nal of medical aid car,at the humming ofthe plane. The lion don't understand yet that wonderful, unknown friends are able to ask from doctor the recipe for the peppermint pastry and to risk, procuring himtwo sacks with bumble-bees, bees, gadfliesand gnats for obtain the ability to roar, so rescuing him from the tragic fate of unfit-ting and rejecting.

Juris Zvirgzdiņš (1941) is known for being one of the most productive writers of highly esteemed literature, having written more than 20 books for children. His works have received many awards, and have been translated into several languages. 11 radio plays were staged for his works between 1982 and 1992. This writer stands out namely with his educational books where children are introduced to various concepts in an engaging way, for instance, going on adventures in the Museum of the History of Riga, visiting the Latvian National Library, or the Riga Zoo, learning about the history of the United States of America, or Austrian music, etc. The author is best known for his books about the teddy bear called Tobias. Tobias is one of the bears from Juris Zvirgzdiņš' actual collection of toys, and as the author himself asserts – Tobias is the true author of at least 7 literary works attributed to Zvirgzdiņš. These works feature other animals from his collection – the little bear Eliot, rhinoceros Mufa, little dog Fu Fuu, and others. In his works, Zvirgzdiņš masterly intertwines documentary with fantasy, and for this reason, his works are dearly loved by children – the stories are not only well imagined, but also have elements of reality and actual experiences. His book Muffa: Story of the White Baby Rhinoceros was included in the prestigious White Ravens Catalogue in 2012.