Buy The Wound Book by Emma Adbage from book shop
close menu
Bookswagon
search
My Account
Home > Children's Books > Early Learning Books > Children’s picture books > The Wound
The Wound

The Wound


     0     
5
4
3
2
1



International Edition


X
About the Book

From the "Mo Willems of Sweden," award-winning author/illustrator Emma Adbage captures a funny and true-to-life story about a little boy who hurts himself at school and is suddenly thrust into the spotlight

Awarded Best Swedish Picture Book of 2022

For readers of The Day You Begin and A Letter to Amy, The Wound similarly captures the humor and emotional growth that comes during common childhood experiences and their impact on a boy's sense of identity, belonging, and self-acceptance.


Feel the rush of the game as you dash around the ping-pong table, laughter and shouts filling the air. Your heart races. Then, a sudden stumble sends you tumbling down, and the world pauses—a sharp pain, a bloody knee. For a moment, for a week, you're the center of attention. You bask in a warm glow of sympathy and curiosity from your peers. But as days pass and the wound heals, the whispers fade and the crowd shrinks.

But what happens when life returns to normal? The fleeting spotlight, once thrilling, leaves you wondering about who you'll be once the bandage comes off ...

International picture book star Emma AdBåge is a master at capturing life on a schoolyard: the games, friends, and group dynamics. The Wound, honored as the Best Swedish Picture Book of 2022, is now available in English for the first time.

About the Author :
Emma AdBåge is a Swedish illustrator and author who debuted in 2001 and has since illustrated several titles, both her own and others. She has won several awards, including the Elsa Beskow Plaque and the Lennart Hellsing Prize. In 2018 she won the August Prize for THE HOLE BEHIND THE GYM, and was also awarded the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 2022 for the same title. Her works have been translated into over 20 languages.

Melissa Bowers is a translator and editor living in Seattle, Washington. She is an ATA-certified Swedish-to-English translator and seasoned copy editor whose work spans picture books, graphic novels, poetry and academic manuscripts by non-native English authors. Her recent literary translations include Emma AdBåge’s The Wound (Arctis Books, Oct 2025), Moa Romanova’s Buff Soul and Goblin Girl (Fantagraphics Books), and Liv Strömquist’s The Reddest Rose (2023), while her non-fiction credits encompass legal and governmental documents, subtitles QC, and translation samples for literary agents. As a copy editor since 2013, she specializes in refining academic manuscripts for clarity and voice. Melissa holds an MFA in Literary Translation from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a certificate in Technical Writing & Editing from the University of Washington, and she earned a 2021 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material for her translation of Goblin Girl.

Review :
STARRED REVIEW
In a work that’s just right for fans of Pepper and Me, AdBåge (The Grand Expedition) combines the matter-of-fact and the awe-inspiring to capture a glimpse of social caretaking and minor fame in the kid world. Ages 4+ A standout picture book in translation for 2025.

Pepper and Me has a Swedish cousin ... It's The Wound by Emma Adbage! [...] An honest accounting of the kids-eye emotions of an everyday playground experience (a wound!), and the brash, exaggerated style of retelling that so many kids enjoy when recounting their tales of woe. The book's title, The Wound, already draws the reader into an everyday drama with an existential basis. A child is injured and the stage is the school [...]

Rarely has the wound's path from flowing blood to solidified scab – and finally a shiny scar that can evoke memories – been depicted with such nerve!  With winsome mixed-media illustrations that capture all the most telling details, and a fine-tuned ear for the way kids think and talk, Adbåge understands the fun that can be found in a child’s everyday reality. Charming and wonderful reading [...] I appreciate its simplicity and the lack of a gender formulation in the pictures." Both my four-year-old and I really like this book and can read it over and over again. [Adbage] really captures emotions in a good way in both text and pictures. The way she connects everyday events with emotions really invites dialogue between child and adult.


Best Sellers


Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9781646900480
  • Publisher: Arctis
  • Publisher Imprint: Arctis
  • Height: 287 mm
  • No of Pages: 32
  • Width: 224 mm
  • ISBN-10: 1646900480
  • Publisher Date: 07 Oct 2025
  • Binding: Hardback
  • Language: English
  • Returnable: Y


Similar Products

Add Photo
Add Photo

Customer Reviews

REVIEWS      0     
Click Here To Be The First to Review this Product
The Wound
Arctis -
The Wound
Writing guidlines
We want to publish your review, so please:
  • keep your review on the product. Review's that defame author's character will be rejected.
  • Keep your review focused on the product.
  • Avoid writing about customer service. contact us instead if you have issue requiring immediate attention.
  • Refrain from mentioning competitors or the specific price you paid for the product.
  • Do not include any personally identifiable information, such as full names.

The Wound

Required fields are marked with *

Review Title*
Review
    Add Photo Add up to 6 photos
    Would you recommend this product to a friend?
    Tag this Book Read more
    Does your review contain spoilers?
    What type of reader best describes you?
    I agree to the terms & conditions
    You may receive emails regarding this submission. Any emails will include the ability to opt-out of future communications.

    CUSTOMER RATINGS AND REVIEWS AND QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TERMS OF USE

    These Terms of Use govern your conduct associated with the Customer Ratings and Reviews and/or Questions and Answers service offered by Bookswagon (the "CRR Service").


    By submitting any content to Bookswagon, you guarantee that:
    • You are the sole author and owner of the intellectual property rights in the content;
    • All "moral rights" that you may have in such content have been voluntarily waived by you;
    • All content that you post is accurate;
    • You are at least 13 years old;
    • Use of the content you supply does not violate these Terms of Use and will not cause injury to any person or entity.
    You further agree that you may not submit any content:
    • That is known by you to be false, inaccurate or misleading;
    • That infringes any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy;
    • That violates any law, statute, ordinance or regulation (including, but not limited to, those governing, consumer protection, unfair competition, anti-discrimination or false advertising);
    • That is, or may reasonably be considered to be, defamatory, libelous, hateful, racially or religiously biased or offensive, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing to any individual, partnership or corporation;
    • For which you were compensated or granted any consideration by any unapproved third party;
    • That includes any information that references other websites, addresses, email addresses, contact information or phone numbers;
    • That contains any computer viruses, worms or other potentially damaging computer programs or files.
    You agree to indemnify and hold Bookswagon (and its officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures, employees and third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.), harmless from all claims, demands, and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of a breach of your representations and warranties set forth above, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.


    For any content that you submit, you grant Bookswagon a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable right and license to use, copy, modify, delete in its entirety, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from and/or sell, transfer, and/or distribute such content and/or incorporate such content into any form, medium or technology throughout the world without compensation to you. Additionally,  Bookswagon may transfer or share any personal information that you submit with its third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc. in accordance with  Privacy Policy


    All content that you submit may be used at Bookswagon's sole discretion. Bookswagon reserves the right to change, condense, withhold publication, remove or delete any content on Bookswagon's website that Bookswagon deems, in its sole discretion, to violate the content guidelines or any other provision of these Terms of Use.  Bookswagon does not guarantee that you will have any recourse through Bookswagon to edit or delete any content you have submitted. Ratings and written comments are generally posted within two to four business days. However, Bookswagon reserves the right to remove or to refuse to post any submission to the extent authorized by law. You acknowledge that you, not Bookswagon, are responsible for the contents of your submission. None of the content that you submit shall be subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of Bookswagon, its agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners or third party service providers (including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.)and their respective directors, officers and employees.

    Accept

    Fresh on the Shelf


    Inspired by your browsing history


    Your review has been submitted!

    You've already reviewed this product!
    Your IP: 216.73.216.206 IN