Rūta Briede (1984) is an illustrator, author, cartoonist, scenographer, lecturer in illustration at the Art Academy of Latvia and the art editor with the publishing house “Liels un Mazs”. She is known as the author of the concept and horned doodle logo of the popular series of a hundred and one Latvian children’s poems Bikibuks (Bicki-buck books, Liels un Mazs, 2012-2017). Rūta is also the author of Kaiju karalienes noslēpums and Suns, kurš atrada skumjas, which both were recently translated into English and published by The Emma Press as Queen of Seagulls: a story of true love and The Dog Who Found Sorrow.
Suns, kurš atrada skumjas [The Dog Who Found Sorrow]. Riga: Liels un mazs, 2018.
Kaiju karalienes noslēpums [Queen of Seagulls]. Riga: Liels un mazs, 2017.
Books to fall for

The Dog Who Found Sorrow
The Dog Who Found Sorrow (Suns, kurš atrada skumjas)
Illustrations by Elīna Brasliņa
Black smoke and clouds suddenly take over the city causing sadness for its inhabitants. Every colour and scent has disappeared. A brave dog takes a ladder and climbs up to the sky to see what’s wrong. It turns out the clouds are filled with very sad beings called Sorrows. The dog takes out his harmonica and starts playing it to lighten the mood.

Title
:The Dog Who Found Sorrow
Title*
:Suns, kurš atrada skumjas
Authors
:Genre
:Childrens-book
Publisher
:Liels un mazs
Pages
:32
Year
:2018
Foreign rights
:Foreign rights sold: Korean, Simplified Chinese (magazine rights only), Chinese (Complex Chinese characters only)

The Queen of Seagulls
The Queen of Seagulls (Kaiju karalienes noslēpums)
Renata lives in a city where seagulls disturb the quiet life she longs for. To ruin the life of these birds she hates, she picks up a gull’s food in the yard and eats it for lunch. She spends mornings writing complaint letters to the city council, but never receives any answer. And then a new neighbour with a fondness for seagulls arrives in Renata’s difficult life. Why does she have to suffer so much? The truth is found on a rocky island, far out in the open sea, where the sun never sets.
Contacts: pasts@lielsmazs.lv, www.lielsmazs.lv

Title
:The Queen of Seagulls
Title*
:Kaiju karalienes noslēpums
Authors
:Illustrators
:Genre
:Childrens-book
Publisher
:Rīga, Liels un mazs
Pages
:44
Year
:2017
Foreign rights
:Sold to United Kingdom
Tina Rausch. Poetic cultural heritage. Search for clues about Latvian Childrens and youth literature, in print // Eselsohr, July 2023 [DE]
Žanete Vēvere. A Glimpse Into The Latvian Literature! // All about book publishing, February, 2023 [IN]
Childrens literature and illustration from Latvia, autumn 2021 // Kultur-lettland.de, November 2021 [GER]
Video conversation with Rūta Briede // Online magazine Punctum Youtube channel, 2020 [LV]
Synopsis of The Dog Who Found Sorrow // Outside in World, 2019 [EN]
Synopsis of Queen of Seagulls // Outside in World, 2018 [EN]
Review of The Dog Who Found Sorrow // Sky Light Rain, 2019 [EN]
Review of The Dog Who Found Sorrow // Jeannie Jeannie blog, 2018 [EN]
Review of Queen of Seagulls // Literature Works, 2018 [EN]
Review of Queen of Seagulls // Children's Books Ireland, 2018 [EN]
About The Dog Who Found Sorrow // Online magazine Satori, 2018 [LV]
About Queen of Seagulls // Online magazine Satori, 2017 [LV]
In print
TinaRauschEselsohr_Lettland_07_23.pdf

Queen of Seagulls
Queen of Seagulls (Kaiju karalienes noslēpums)

Title
: Queen of SeagullsTitle*
: Kaiju karalienes noslēpumsAuthors
:Translated by
:Genre
:Children`s Book
Language
:English
Pages
:22
Year
:2018
Copyrights
:The author; the translator;
Synopsis
:Renata seems like an ordinary angry neighbour. Bet there are things that she has forgotten about herself. What are the seagulls trying to tell her? Will Renata ever remeber who she really is? This is a story about seagulls, magic and true love.

The Dog Who Found Sorrow
The Dog Who Found Sorrow (Suns, kurš atrada skumjas)

Title
: The Dog Who Found SorrowTitle*
: Suns, kurš atrada skumjasAuthors
:Translated by
:Genre
:Children`s Book
Language
:Chinese
Pages
:16
Year
:2018
Copyrights
:The author, the illustrator
Synopsis
:The Dog Who Found Sorrow is a beautiful, resonant picture book about sadness and healing, suitable for all ages.

The Dog Who Found Sorrow
The Dog Who Found Sorrow (Suns, kurš atrada skumjas)

Title
: The Dog Who Found SorrowTitle*
: Suns, kurš atrada skumjasAuthors
:Translated by
:Genre
:Children`s Book
Language
:English
Pages
:40
Year
:2018
Copyrights
:The author, the illustrator, the designer
Synopsis
:The Dog Who Found Sorrow is a beautiful, resonant picture book about sadness and healing, suitable for all ages.

슬픔을 찾은 개
슬픔을 찾은 개 (Suns, kurš atrada skumjas)

Title
: 슬픔을 찾은 개Title*
: Suns, kurš atrada skumjasAuthors
:Translated by
:Genre
:Children`s Book
Language
:Korean
Pages
:36
Year
:2019
Copyrights
:The author, the illustrator, the publisher
Synopsis
:The Dog Who Found Sorrow is a beautiful, resonant picture book about sadness and healing, suitable for all ages.

갈매기 여왕
갈매기 여왕 (Kaiju karalienes noslēpums)

Title
: 갈매기 여왕Title*
: Kaiju karalienes noslēpumsAuthors
:Translated by
:Genre
:Children`s Book
Language
:Korean
Publisher
:Mirae Media and Books, South Korea
Pages
:46
Year
:2019
Copyrights
:The author, the publisher
Synopsis
:Renata seems like an ordinary angry neighbour. Bet there are things that she has forgotten about herself. What are the seagulls trying to tell her? Will Renata ever remember who she really is? This is a story about seagulls, magic and true love.

Le mystère de la reine des mouettes
Le mystère de la reine des mouettes (Kaiju karalienes noslēpums)

Title
: Le mystère de la reine des mouettesTitle*
: Kaiju karalienes noslēpumsAuthors
:Translated by
:Genre
:Children`s Book
Language
:French
Pages
:40
Year
:2020
Synopsis
:Renata seems like an ordinary angry neighbour. Bet there are things that she has forgotten about herself. What are the seagulls trying to tell her? Will Renata ever remember who she really is? This is a story about seagulls, magic and true love.

Das Geheimnis der Mövenkönigin
Das Geheimnis der Mövenkönigin (Kaiju karalienes noslēpums)

Title
: Das Geheimnis der MövenköniginTitle*
: Kaiju karalienes noslēpumsAuthors
:Translated by
:Genre
:Children`s Book
Language
:German
Pages
:44
Year
:2021
Synopsis
:Renata seems like an ordinary angry neighbour. Bet there are things that she has forgotten about herself. What are the seagulls trying to tell her? Will Renata ever remember who she really is? This is a story about seagulls, magic and true love.
A ra¡ña das gaivotas
A ra¡ña das gaivotas (Kaiju karalienes noslēpums)
Title
: A ra¡ña das gaivotasTitle*
: Kaiju karalienes noslēpumsAuthors
:Genre
:Children`s Book
Language
:Galician
Pages
:44
Year
:2022
Copyrights
:the author
Synopsis
:Renata lives in a city where seagulls disturb the quiet life she longs for. And then a new neighbour with a fondness for seagulls arrives in Renata’s difficult life. The truth is found on a rocky island, far out in the open sea, where the sun never sets.

Pies, który rozweselił smutki
Pies, który rozweselił smutki (Suns, kurš atrada skumjas)

Title
: Pies, który rozweselił smutkiTitle*
: Suns, kurš atrada skumjasAuthors
:Translated by
:Genre
:Children`s Book
Language
:Polish
Pages
:36
Year
:2024
Copyrights
:The author, the illustrator