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Children

Monsters

15,00 

Lili loves colours. Everything around her is always colourful. Her room, her drawings, her clothes, her thoughts. Until one Monday, when Lili loses in a race and nothing can help her feel better. One by one, monsters come and steal colours out of her life, leaving her in a sombre world as she deals with disappointment and sadness. But Lili will find out that, even though it does not always seem so, colours have a way of finding their way back into our lives – with a little help from our friends. An important story told in a simple yet effective way, with gorgeous illustrations by award-winning artist Klasja Habjan.

Once

12,00 

In this extraordinary picture-book the story keeps returning to its beginning. At every page, Igor Rajki starts out with the classical formula “Once there was a…”, only to interrupt the narration and turn to something else. The little sketches created in this way as well as the reasons the author offers for never finishing any of his stories finally build up to a hilarious mosaic of anecdotes while constructing a somewhat nervous but highly entertaining narrative voice. The visual artist Krešimir Zimonić responded to the fragmentary narrative style by using techniques of collage which combine drawings, photographs, graffiti styled writings and “ready-made” visual material. Once is, for this reason, a thoroughly sketchy and incredibly rich little book.

 

Piccola con piccolo

13,00 

The little girl Piccola shows an unusual feeling for sounds. Imitating the chirping of birds, the crackling of fire, the sounds of the wind and everything else that surrounds her, Piccola amazes the listeners singing her little melodies. When she comes to a
music school and old Professore starts teaching her to play the piccolo, the smallest girl with the smallest flute becomes ‘Piccola con piccolo’; her Bird Music becomes a huge success and she is invited to perform all over the world. Piccola con piccolo
is the first picture book written by Bruno Mezić. Creating a likable character of the little girl Piccola,
telling about her adventures in sound, and skillfully playing with Italian words, the author introduces young readers to the terminology of classical music. Illustrations by the young visual artist and designer Klasja Habjan imaginatively and playfully follow the text and bring to life the original little heroine and her music.

 

Book #3705

 

 

Rascals in the Gutter

17,00 

In the best tradition of young adult novels, but with a fresh voice, Josip Čekolj recounts the story of his rascals — four friends on the brink of adulthood. Although the town through which they roam is imaginary, their love and confusion, their conflicts and blunders, much like their need for warmth and belonging are all very real. As the rascals learn to find their way ‘in the gutter’, various characters show up to guide them along. Some are more trustworthy than others, and they largely come from the fringes of society, with perhaps the most important being an old lady with her cats and flair for poetry. And as usually happens in coming-of-age stories, their wading through murky waters becomes a first step towards maturity. The inspiration for this book was the exhibition ‘Rascals and Frogs’ by the visual artist Dominik Vuković, themed around memories of childhood. He illustrated this edition in close collaboration with the author, resulting in a special relationship between the text and illustrations.

Safe Journey

14,00 

Beatrice Masini and Gianni De Conno, the award-winning Italian tandem, communicate in this picture book the artistic and emotional experience of travelling. The combination of magnificent oneiric images and the poetic prose takes us on a journey into the unknown: sometimes the destination is known, and sometimes the trip is just aimless wandering; sometimes we encounter obstacles and surprises, sometimes “treasures we don’t know yet of.” Every journey is a unique experience; and the insights we gain, the feelings we go through, and the memories we create are its precious consequences. Attractive illustrations and suggestive short sentences stimulate imagination and their dreamy quality has won numerous readers; in 2018 Beatrice Masini and Gianni De Conno received the most prestigious prize in the field of children’s literature “SuperPremio Andersen”. For the great Gianni De Conno, this picture book marked the end of a life’s journey; it is the last and farewell gift he left us before his untimely death.

 

Book #3340

Saturn at the Winter Swimming Pool

20,00 

The story begins one January morning when the planet Saturn suddenly materializes in the big swimming pool, at first in a smaller version of itself. The unexpected event shakes up the sleepy routine of the regular visitors of the swimming pool called ‘Future’. Lacking logical explanations, but brimming with their own ideas, they try to adapt to the new circumstances, hoping the planet will go away on its own. Some try to extract profit from the event, others pretend that nothing is happening, but finally it becomes clear to them all that they simply have to kick out the constantly growing Saturn out of their pool while it’s still possible! This picture-book, fully authored by Vendi Vernić, one of the foremost Croatian illustrators of the younger generation, will appeal to readers of all ages. The story can be read and interpreted on multiple levels: as an absurdist game of imagination, as a little study of a specific community, or as an allegory on melancholy and depression.

Serna and Mack in Pursuit of the Frightened Month

15,00 

In his first prose text the young author uses patterns of traditional storytelling to speak about the contemporary problem of climate change. January disappeared, frightened by the absence of winter; a girl and a household spirit set off on a journey through the world of calendar, trying to find him and persuade him to come back. Adroitly following the spirit of the text, the illustrator uses elements from traditional book illustration, blending them with modern technique and expression.

 

Book #3348

Six Walks of Slava Raškaj

15,00 

This picture-book is the first within a series with which Mala zvona introduces works of great Croatian visual artists to children. The famous Croatian impressionist painter S. Raškaj was deaf – and very sensitive to nature. Therefore, the writer of this picture book chose to represent her life and work in six walks with easel in different surroundings: the garden of her childhood, parks in the city where she learned to paint, winter woods and summer meadows where she made her best pictures. The illustrator did not copy the style of watercolors made by S. Raškaj, but gave the adequate transparence and lightness to his own.

 

Book #3338

 

 

The Creepy House

16,00 

The Creepy House is a skilful blend of a story about a family intending to move from the city to an old house surrounded by nature, an old-fashioned game of riddles, and fairy-tale elements that lend the whole book an air of fantasy that children find so irresistible. Solving the riddles given to them by the mysterious voice from the fireplace, Florijan and Klara explore the house and the garden, noticing so many things they did not see at first. With a bit of fear and lots of laughter, they experience a real adventure in search of a key they will use to ‘unlock’ the magic of their future home… The author shows a very good understanding of a child’s way of thinking and combines an imaginative plot with a subtle educational element about the world of plants and animals. The illustrator follows the story closely, complementing it with a number of small artistic surprises.

The Fly in the Atelier of Ivan Kožarić

15,00 

How to introduce children to the world of a famous conceptual artist? The author of the text chose a character from the artist’s notebook, a little fly. Accidentally it enters the atelier – where all objects are wrapped in paper (the situation taken from real life). One by one they unwrap themselves for the little fly, telling and singing their stories. The illustrator creates the magical space of the atelier with highly original inventiveness, masterfully inserting citations of Kožarić’s works.

 

Book #3419

The Little Key

17,00 

Starting from a banal event – a shoe that was untied and a key found on the street – the little heroine of this picture book talks about her loved ones. For each of them, such a key could serve something, unlock something of theirs: mom’s glass showcase, dad’s mysterious drawer, a compartment with love letters in grandma’s cabinet, a friend’s special pencil case, her brother’s box with figurines of dragons and knights. With each contemplation of the key, an image from everyday life is “unlocked”. But in the end, the girl concludes that the key will best serve her and her own imagination.
The author of this story about curiosity is the acclaimed and experienced writer Sanja Lovrenčić, and the book was illustrated by Lucija Mrzljak, an award-winning artist educated in Zagreb, Prague, Krakow and Tallinn.

The Moon in December

At first glance, the Moon seems to be the central character of these “twelve stories for daydreaming”, but various other characters alternate under its shine and go through many unexpected experiences: under its light, snow owls hold their annual ball, it serves the little fairy as the highest jump in the sky, a mouse will use it as a model for a picture of the ideal cheese… When it disappears from the sky, four cats go in search of it, and when it reappears it will serve as a swing for three crazy dogs, winners in howling competition… (illustrated by Pika Vončina)

The Sneering Bird

16,00 

Illustrating a fable about a parrot run away from the ZOO who meets various animals and finds all of them for some reason ridiculous until a fox teaches it a lesson, the artist Ivana Pipal finds ingenious ways of representing basically the same situation: the parrot and another animal. Giving each protagonist mood and personality, and creating at the same time deeply pleasant green world of the woods, she turns the tale about understanding and accepting others into rich visual pleasure.

 

Book #3396

 

 

The Story of Golem

13,00 

Drawing on the Jewish visual and literary tradition, Melita Kraus rewrites the legend of Golem of Prague, highlighting its fantastic and amusing side: funny episodes, caused by the fact that Golem’s creators succeeded in making him alive and strong, but not very bright, make the story lively and full of surprises. Placing the frame story (about a little boy who gets lost in the old Prague) in the present time, and narrating in a simple and contemporary language, Melita Kraus establishes a close relationship with the young reader, and draws her/him into the world of her imagination.

 

Age: 6-8

The Voyage of Aunt Hilda

10,00 

Hilda is an adventurous chicken (rare thing in a chicken house); she embarks on a long journey, searching for the river Limpopo. Her adventures are told in words and pictures, in a series of postcards that she sends to her friends who have stayed home (as a normal chicken should). Her postcards are never just landscapes; the picture always shows someone she met on the road: two ladybugs who lost their sister, a pig prince, a walking hill, a cat teacher teaching only the letter A, and a number of other characters whose stories she tells in just a few words. They make a pleasant reading, full of little surprises that excite wonder and laughter.

Age: 4-6

The Year Without a Rabbit

10,00 

Leo is sitting in front of the house, lounging in a chair and thinking about the past year. The summer was great and promised a good start to seventh grade: with his brother and some friends he had founded a rock band that played a crazy summer hit, played in an international orchestra in Slovenia, and also, he had bathed in the sea. But when he returned to the city, things started going downhill – their pet, a brown rabbit, disappeared without trace, seventh grade started “badly”, with a pile of books, endless assignments and papers, and disagreement broke out with the new fencing coach … Sanja Lovrenčić enriched Croatian youth prose with a realistic and entertaining novel which, through the eyes of the smart, witty and talkative boy Leo, his family and friends, makes us aware (or reminds us) of the problems of growing up. Through the clarity of a child’s mind, we are faced with the absurdities of the adult world, as well as absurdities in schooling (very well described in the chapter “When you write about spring for the seventh time”). Adolescence has never been easy, but this novel shows that it can and should be fun!

(recommendation of the Vladimir Nazor Library in Zagreb)