Joy Starts On Page One

Child detectives solving mysteries of Latvian art legends. Talking dogs ruling over a neighborhood in Riga. A playful reimagining of Aleksandrs Laime explorations, centered around the adventures of a magical cow. These are just some of the captivating worlds created by the acclaimed Latvian children’s author Luīze Pastore.

Joy Is The Hook

“When grown-ups try to motivate children to read, they often talk about learning, vocabulary, and developing imagination. But adults themselves don’t reach for a book after a long workday just to expand their vocabulary. We read to feel something. If a book bores us, we won’t finish it. The same goes for children – they need to feel joy to stay engaged. Reading must be natural, fun, and reasonably simple,” believes the Latvian author Luīze Pastore.

To achieve that, she crafts lively, imaginative plots designed around how children naturally engage with stories. In her “Art Detectives” series, for example, readers are drawn into exploring playful mysteries behind significant Latvian artworks. As readers follow clues and solve puzzles, they naturally discover connections between the story and real artists’ works, making reading feel more like an adventure than an assignment.

“My goal is to captivate children with plot so thoroughly that they don’t even realize they’ve gained something valuable through this joyful, exciting experience,” she adds. This doesn’t mean oversimplifying stories or chasing trends. Rather, when a story is crafted with its audience in mind, it can organically explore the values of the Latvian Cultural Canon, delve into history and personalities Pastore finds fascinating, and use rich language that naturally expands a child’s vocabulary.

Sparkle In Their Eyes

Her accolades tell a story of their own: Luīze Pastore is the heroine of a remarkable literary journey. Her books have captured attention both in Latvia and internationally. “Laimes Bērni”, a novel inspired by Latvian explorer Aleksandrs Laime, received the prestigious “New Horizons” award at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair for its innovative spirit. In 2018, “Dog Town” was named one of the best children’s books of the year by The Guardian. Pastore is also a recipient of the Latvian Annual Literature Award and the International Jānis Baltvilks Prize, and her works have been featured multiple times on the international “White Ravens” list. “Dog Town” has even made its way to the screen as a beautiful animated film called “Jacob, Mimmi and the Talking Dogs”.

The biggest victory in the author’s eyes though? The sparkle in the children’s eyes after her school visit. Because Luīze Pastore’s mission to spark joy in reading doesn’t end on the page. In her creative workshops, she leads children into the world of storytelling through play, using movement, curiosity, and problem-solving to turn reading into something active and exciting. These aren’t 40-minute lectures – they’re hands-on adventures.

“Every time I see their eyes light up after a 40-minute visit, I feel a deep sense of fulfillment,” she says. “It means stories can captivate children just as effectively as soap bubbles at a festival or jumping on a trampoline. It shows that conversation can bring as much enjoyment as more physical activities.”

When reading is a joyful experience, learning and understanding happen naturally along the way – whether it’s discovering new words, reading more attentively, or making sense of complicated emotions. Building on that connection, Luīze Pastore’s next book will explore the themes of grief and loss, offering children a safe space to face difficult feelings through stories. Because a story well told can be part of how a child – or any of us – grows and learns to face the world.