New children’s book Zanzibar jak vyšitý one of most charming publications of 2015
The tropical island of Zanzibar is the setting of a beautiful new children’s book just released by Labyrint/Raketa. Called Zanzibar jak vyšitý, the book of poems and stories is the work of first-time children’s author Radka Dráčková (on maternity leave from her job in film distribution). The text is exceptional and the illustrations enchanting; they are not drawn but meticulously crafted from fabric.
“It has always been a passion for us. We experienced a period when travelling wasn’t possible or was very difficult, so when we turned 18 or 20 or so, we really had a desire to visit other places. We have since been to several continents including Africa, South America, Asia, and visited many, many places that were very beautiful and worth discovering.”
Experiencing different cultures, different customs, habits, is that something which held an initial or continuing attraction?
“Yes, all of it. We always search for simplicity and authenticity and the chance to meet people, experience something from their everyday life, to use their means of (sometimes crowded) transport and so on. I also always tried to learn at least a bit of the language for conversation. I still remember some phrases in Bahasa Indonesia, questions like what time does the boat leave and other practical things.
“My experience on Zanzibar was, in a way, like going back into childhood. Something so completely different: new colours, new tastes, communication.”
“One thing is, we always travelled on vacation but once we also travelled to Africa for a volunteer stay in Guinea. We stayed for a more than month helping an NGO and we met and saw very poor people and poor children, who we helped with sanitary services. This is the moment when you really meet the essence of existence of people there. You travel very far to realise the country where you live, that you are very happy there. And lucky.”
One place which obviously left a deep impression in you is Zanzibar; that is one of the places that you visited and formed the basis for your first children’s book. When did you first get the idea to write a children’s book? Is this something which you always wanted to do but were only waiting for the right moment?
So you didn’t have children yet.
“No, I got the idea before my daughters were born. But my experience on Zanzibar was, in a way, like going back into childhood. This is something so completely different, that you discover new colours, new tastes, new means of communication. You meet people who you don’t really understand and it is like discovering for the first time something which is very different from what you are used to. So that is maybe why I imagined that it could be a topic for children.”
“The fabrics were from old clothes we wore on Zanzibar or old textile clippings I had left from sewing.”
One of the very interesting things about your book is that it features not classic illustrations but pictures which are sewn from fabric. Where did the fabrics come from?
“They were from old clothes we wore on Zanzibar or old textile clippings I had left-over from sewing. So I had these fabrics and I just picked colours which I liked that I felt evoked Zanzibar and that was it.”
In terms of the process, did you start with the visuals and then write the stories or verses, or the other way around, or was it a combination?
“My first idea was very visual. My initial inspiration was this scene of a very little boy, only four years old or so, selling donuts on the beach, carrying a giant dish of donuts on his head. He walked something like seven or 10 kilometres along the stretch of beach several times a day. He came every morning or twice a day and this was very moving and I will never forget it. So he is one of the characters who appears in the book. Then, I wrote poems and stories and the illustrations are based on the stories. So they were sometimes based on the words I used I the poetry.”
“Well, thank you for what you just said. I have to say someone really helped me: I worked with an editor, the poet Ondřej Buddeus, a very appreciated Czech poet, and he helped me very much to put kind of an architecture into the first version of the poetry. I would say that the ideas, the meaning and the mood is the same. But he pushed me into rhythm and rhymes. He didn’t rewrite, I did, which was very difficult but It was necessary and I am very happy with the result. It was a giant progress.”
If we look at the images and how they are sewn, this is very meticulous work. What is the technique employed?
“My daughter’s favourite image is the chameleon, then my self-portrait. My daughter recognised right away that is was me.”
“The technique, called applique, is quite laborious because of the scale. First I would draw the images onto the fabric. Then you cut out a slightly larger version so that you will be able to fold the edges over, which can be just three millimetres. You neaten the edges so the design is clean and well-sewn although the stitches can be seen and I wanted it to look a little naïve. Not haute-couture but really handmade. But the process required a lot of patience.”
It really is very original: I can’t recall anything like it, maybe with folded paper but not with fabric… If we talk about the characters, there are the locals, the animals which are wonderful for children, even a self-portrait. Who is your favourite character, or maybe more appropriately, your three-year-old daughter’s?
“For sure the chameleon, then my self-portrait. My daughter recognised right away that is was me, even though my face is green! Yeah, we look together more at the pictures now but I would say the book is for children between the ages of 5 – 8 to really get the message.”
Who did the layout? I found the separation of the text and the numbering very pleasing visually.
Otherwise, what was working with Labyrint like, because this is one of the best-known publishing houses in the Czech republic, also with a very specific children’s line…
“Of course and I was very lucky: I think I experienced a kind of American dream. I showed my work to the owner of Labyrint Joachim Dvořák on the street when I went to an open-air book market near the Vltava. I thought, ok, now my book is finished, I would like to have 30 copies for my friends. But I was too lazy to start a crowd-funding campaign. So why not show it to someone, maybe… So he saw it and told me to send him the text, and maybe he wasn’t that optimistic about it. But I sent it and finally I really appreciated his courage and the work by the team and by him: he is really a brave man!”
The book launch was at a café here in Prague just a few days ago and it was absolutely packed. What were your feelings? Was it ‘finally, the readers will get to read it’?
“Well I am happy of course. But also a little bit nervous, wondering what readers will say about it. At the same time I have had some very positive feedback from people, who studied art, for example, so that was very unexpected for me.”
“A little dragon. It was a little joke. My real last name is longer but I thought the dráček part might be interesting for kids or would waken their curiosity.”
The pictures used in the book are on view at Café Lajka in Prague but check listings online for the latest information.
