Lene Fauerby loves telling stories, and she has an exceptional ability to write for children of all ages. Since her debut as a children?s writer in 1987, Lene Fauerby has energetically and skilfully taken on novels, easy-to-read books and picture books. She says that imagination is a glorious thing, and that she loves thinking up and writing stories ? and that is quite obvious!

Greenland plays an important role in Lene Fauerby?s writing. Fanget af isen (Trapped by the Ice), her first book for children, is set in a little village in East Greenland ? the village in which Lene Fauerby once lived for two years. The young teenager Mikkeli is out sealing with his grandfather when the mist comes down and Mikkeli gets trapped on the ice. Lene Fauerby has an extensive knowledge of conditions in Greenland. However, she does not use it in a merely realistic way ?Trapped in the Ice pays an almost documentary-maker?s attention to detail. The narrative is probably driven more by its loving respect for the Greenlandic people than by the actual tale to be told.

But in the next story about Mikkeli, Nogen gange gør det ondt at leve (Sometimes Living Hurts), which takes place three years later, the story takes over. Lene Fauerby looks alternately through the eyes of Mikkeli and his childhood friend, Silpa, and by so doing she provides an insight into two very different perceptions of the ways of the world. They fall passionately in love, but it comes to nothing, because Mikkeli does not understand Silpa?s suffering over her mother?s illness and subsequent death. The tale is not in the least sentimental, it is told in a refreshingly direct way, with a deep understanding for the two characters, their lives and circumstances.

The novel Et halvt hjerte (Half a Heart) is also about a girl who loses her mother. Naja, who is 14-15 years old, loses her mother and younger sister in a traffic accident. Naja and her Danish father move back to Greenland, to the place her mother originally came from. The title of the book refers literally to an ornament that Naja was given by her best friend in Denmark ? a half heart made of silver, to wear around her neck. But in a figurative sense it also refers to Naja?s feeling of not being whole after her mother?s death and after leaving Denmark. The story follows two tracks ? one in the present and one in the past ? as indicated by the illustration on the cover of the book: the face of a Greenlandic girl, divided into two, the one half having Inuit features, the other half with a somewhat Europeanised appearance. Naja comes to terms with her mother?s death in a dream that is set 500 years in the past. Lene Fauerby?s story has been inspired by an extraordinary archaeological find of eight well-preserved mummies ? women and children ? and thus brings Greenland?s history into the narrative. Naja?s identity and self-image are seen reflected in the past, and the natural environment around her is seen as a reflection of her state of mind.

In her novels Lene Fauerby employs a visual and vivid language appealing to all five senses, whereas in her two easy-to-read books, Is-bjerget (The Ice Mountain) and Fjeld-ånden (The Mountain Spirit), she is able to conjure up atmosphere and expectation, trepidation and disquiet in very few words. The books tell the story of two children ? a Greenlander and a Dane ? at the mercy of the elements. We follow Kasper and Malik out on the ice and up in the mountains, fishing and hunting ? and coming face to face with the mountain spirit, the qivittoq.

Lene Fauerby?s easy-to-read books ? despite the concise language ? catch the reader?s imagination with good plots, varied narrative technique and humour. This is the case in, for example, the seven books about Jan and Liv, their family and friends. This series takes us across the whole spectrum of a good story: from ?when Dad was a child? (Det sorte genfærd, The Black Phantom), to the familiar children?s story of an empty house and an angry watchman (Den hemmelige hule, The Secret Den; Det forladte hus, The Deserted House), to being scared and not wanting to admit it (Vampyren, The Vampire), and on to the very realistic but also amusing story about a family?s pursuit of a fox (Til kamp mod ræven, Doing Battle with the Fox).

In her picture books Lene Fauerby tackles a completed different area of storytelling ? stories for very young children, to be read aloud and explored through the pictures. The books about Mette deal with the ups and downs of everyday life. Mette is a little 2-3-year-old girl. Whether she is decorating the Christmas tree or playing hide-and-seek with her mother, Mette?s stories are always told in a simple and straightforward fashion, with a sure sense for the line of reasoning that a very young child can understand. Mette-Kirstine Bak?s fine and complementary illustrations help to make the books so complete. Her expressive and colourful interpretation of the spirited and intrepid young central character, who is very much her own ?girl?, is quite perfect. Bjørnen kommer! (The Bear is Coming!) is also a drama of everyday life, but for slightly older children. The story has intensity and energy ? a game of make-believe suddenly turns into reality. A girl is playing bear with her two younger siblings, and she turns into the bear! A real cliff-hanger, which shows an author with a genuine appreciation of children?s ways of perceiving the world.

In Pigen der elskede ord (The Girl who Loved Words) Lene Fauerby brings together her fascination with the magic of words and the power of storytelling in a rhyming tale about Sille, a girl who could never get enough of words ? it seems that when she was very young she had been able to read aloud, at school she gulps down words in big mouthfuls and she turns into a bookworm who, being so engrossed in words and stories, is a danger to her surroundings. The book rips along, the one bizarre and crazy situation succeeding the other. The story takes surprising turns, and it is fun. There is vigour and delight in the energetic rhyming stanzas. And there is an elegant interplay with the accompanying illustrations ? the text and pictures are an excellent complement to one another.