Poland
208
Bardijewska, Liliana (text)
Krygowska-Butlewska, Elżbieta (illus.)
Bajka o kapciuszku czyli jak to z wdzięcśnotcią było (The fairytale of the little slipper or on the matter of gratitude)
Poznań: Mila, [2008]. – 43 p.
ISBN 978-83-926565-4-8
Cinderella <theme> – Slipper – Journey – Search – Fairytale
In straightforward, graceful
language Liliana Bardijewska describes the wonderful story of the little
slipper. As in the Cinderella fairytale, which in Polish differs only by one
letter from this tale’s title, the concern here is also a princess with only
one shoe. But in this case, the main character is a little slipper knit out
of wool that, with the help of a ball of yarn, goes in search of its
brother. On the way, it serves as a bird’s nest, a sack for a hamster’s
winter stores, and helps a tardy heron over winter. But all of these animals
disappear without thanking. Every single page of this small-format book is
lovingly designed. With her spacious coloured drawings, the illustrator
connects the Polish illustration style of the 1960s with innovative ideas
and constructions. She brings threads, balls of yarn, and stitches to life
and lets the different imaginative characters emerge out of them. (4+)
209
Tuwim, Julian (text)
Various artists (illus.)
Wiersze dla dzieci (Poems for children)
Warszawa: Wytwórnia, 2007. – [138] p.
ISBN 978-83-923486-4-1
Poetry
The poet Julian Tuwim is
celebrated as a national poet in his country. His children’s poems,
illustrated in the 1950s by Jan Lenica, Olga Siemaszkoor, and Jan Marcin
Szancer, for example, are counted among the classics of Polish children’s
literature. Encouraged by two women publishers, seven young female Polish
graphic artists and illustrators have translated selected poems of Tuwim
anew into pictorial form. The resulting avantgarde art picture book bears
witness to a brave, artistically ambitious illustration scene in Poland. The
poem »Locomotive«, for instance, is pictured like a technical instruction
manual, »Bird radio« is told with expressive watercolour drawings, and »The
little turnip« is illustrated with dynamic, ephemeral drawings. In the
tradition of the famous Polish poster art, a harmonious play develops
between text and image, taking up the rhythm of the poems and carrying the
reader through the book. (6+)
210
Wechterowicz, Przemysław (text)
Ignerska, Marta (illus.)
Wielkie marzenia (Big dreams)
Kraków: Wydawnictwo Znak, 2008. – [44] p.
ISBN 978-83-240-0924-4
Dream – Wish
A sun that wishes for a pair of sunglasses, the wind
that would love to swim once in his life, a dayfly that wants to live for
two days, a well that longs for the ocean, or an eel that wishes to conquer
Mount Everest – these are big dreams that can only find room in a big
picture book. Under the heading »dreams«, Przemysław Wechterowicz has
gathered little yearnings for the impossible and has invited the young
illustrator Marta Ignerska illustrate them. The picture book is as unusual
as are the texts: a large-format book, filled with wild, nervous drawings
and expressive watercolours. One senses the author-illustrator team’s
passion for the experiment. Together, they tear down many limits of the
conventional picture book, which is something that only those who still have
the
courage to dream big can do. (6+)