Dr. Chatwin and the Chilibilus

Day 1
As the ancient Yamana people, I have sailed the last hours in a canoe. Searching an island where I can stay the night, I have explored through channels, none of which were likely to have been navigated in decades. I bring enough food to survive for at least four months. The cold is so intense that it might freeze God. And the solitude is practically devastating. I pursue an impossible target: to make an audiovisual record of a Chilibilus. Alone with nature, I have cried with emotion.

The ornithologist Anton Chatwin embarks on an adventure that will change his life in an unexpected way. He is obsessed with a species never seen before: the Chilibilus. To find it, he will go canoeing through the Patagonian channels and explore the deep forests, fighting against the cold, the rain, and the loneliness. For 82 days he will live around the search for the Chilibilus. He will discover its footprints, he will listen to its song and, on some nights, he will believe that he is one step away from that long-awaited meeting. What he does not suspect is that someone is spying on his steps and threatening to make his scientific enterprise fail.

Key points

2024 – Cuatrogatos Foundation Award

• The story invites children to reflect on their own motivations in life.
• It takes the reader on a journey through Patagonia and describes the natural wealth of Chile’s southernmost tip.
• The work is open to multiple readings and interpretations.

Marcelo Simonetti

2024, 2021 – Cuatrogatos Foundation Award
2023, 2021 – IBBY Chile Award, Children and Young Adults Poetry
2019 – Chilean National Prize Marta Brunet for Children and Young Adults Literature
2014 – Best Literary Works Award, Best Unpublished Storybook

Marcelo Escobar

2014 – Honourable Mention, Latin American Illustration Award, Palermo University
2010 – Mauricio Amster Award for Editorial Design and Illustration