Venezuela (Spanish)
174
Cottin, Menena (text/illus.)
Al revés (Upside-down)
Caracas : Camelia Ed., 1999. – [32pp]
ISBN 980-6450-01-9
House - Upside-down-world <motif>
What would happen if everything suddenly stood on its head? A girl walks about
day-dreaming through the upside-down-world of her familiar home. The chandelier looks like
a tree, the shower rains upwards, and the stairs go up, down, or up-down? A strikingly
simple idea inspired the illustrator to create a charming story, taking the onlookers on a
little discovery tour and inviting them to keep on raving in this topsy-turvy world.
»Upside-down«, originally an animated cartoon, now is published as a book with
realistic, soft-coloured pencil drawings. (3+)
Special Mention
175
Skármeta, Antonio (text)
Ruano, Alfonso (illus.)
La composición (The composition)
Caracas : Ed. Ekaré, 2000. – 36pp
ISBN 980-257-215-2
Dictatorship - Suppression - Police state - Betrayal
The text by the famous Chilean author, originally written as a radio play, is published
for the first time as a book. The story, which surely incorporates autobiographical
elements of the author who lived in exile for many years, is set in a not further
specified military dictatorship. Schoolboy Pedro knows that his parents oppose the regime
and secretly listen to forbidden radio stations in the evening. Danger looms when an
officer comes to the school and commands the children to write a composition on the
evening pass-times of their family. The dramatic tension of Skármeta's story very
gradually rises with the build-up of the atmosphere, suddenly to be released at the very
end, when one understands that Pedro has instinctively decided against the truth, and
thereby against betraying his parents. The realistic illustrations seem like frozen
moments. Their static and serious nature captures the inner state of a society paralysed
with fear, violence and denunciation. (9+) ¤