In a time when everything has to be politically correct, it is refreshing to find literature that doesn't take itself so seriously. Isol, the Argentine author and finalist for this year's Hans Christian Andersen Award, writes stories that are funny, silly, and irreverent. They are also deeply moving. Her playful treatment of complex topics makes her books ideal for children but also appealing to adults. Never didactic, Isol's stories always manage to make readers think. "I have a problem with things that are solemn or childish," she confesses. For the last decade, she has created tales that feature red-faced shouting mothers, frustrated kids, and open endings.

Isol (b. 1972) is a Renaissance woman. The artist makes her living as an advertising illustrator. Aside from creating children's books, she writes comics, sings professionally, and updates her blog (isolisol.blogspot.com) regularly. Like herself, her sensitive young characters seem to be searching for something, always curious. "What I like about children is their wild take on things, that detachment and doubt about certainties and institutions," she says.

Different triggers inspire her stories: a sketch that makes her laugh, a paradox, a current problem, and, of course, her childhood memories. "My parents were somewhat intellectuals and much younger than my classmates' parents. I remember thinking, 'I want my parents to be more like the ones my friends have,'" she says. "I had an idealized version of other people's lives, which seemed calmer and more organized."

Isol develops this theme in Secreto de familia—where the young narrator is convinced her mother is a porcupine—and in El globo (The Balloon, FCE, 2002), in which the protagonist's mother is screaming her head off when she suddenly turns into a beautiful red balloon. "One day, Camila had her wish fulfilled. Her mother turned into a balloon and was not screaming any more," the story begins.

Fulfilled or not, desires are a recurrent theme in Isol's books. In Cosas que pasan (Things Happen, FCE, 2000), a girl wishes out loud, "If I only had straight hair, I would be more beautiful." She hopes for many things she can't have, yet when a genie comes to grant her a wish, she doesn't know what to ask for. "Just one?" she complains.

There is always humor in Isol's books. Her story lines play with the absurd, her characters are flawed, and her illustrations often ludicrously grotesque. "I enjoy taking the drama out of certain situations, or laughing about things that seem like huge problems and are not." Her signature style comprises thick brush strokes, broken lines, and a limited palette of mostly muted colors. Not surprisingly, the artist names this year's Hans Christian Andersen Award winner, Wolf Erlbruch, as one of her influences.

Like Erlbruch's art, Isol's contains an overall calmness. These qualities come across in the award-winning picture books she has illustrated for others, like Paul Auster's exquisite El cuento de Navidad de Auggie Wren (Auggie Wren's Christmas Story, Sudamericana, 2003) and Jorge Luján's Tic Tac (Alfaguara, 2003), for which she won the prestigious Golden Apple at the 2003 Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava. "When I illustrate poems or stories by other authors, I like to find an artistic structure that fits the text and opens it up, but I never do a literal illustration," she explains.

Isol's next book, Tener un patito es útil (FCE), is scheduled for release in the beginning of 2007.