Les Amis de Zarafa

The Alchemist

admin — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 10:20:39 +0000

Sendivogius Polonus who – according to a legend – turned a base metal into gold, in front of the Polish King Sigismund III. Beautifully illustrated by Pawel Pawlak.

Blumka’s Diary – A look inside

admin — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:12:16 +0000

Blumka’s Diary

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:54:45 +0000

Blumka’s Diary, the newest book by Iwona Chmielewska, will be published on the 20th of Semptember, in two versions: a German one (Blumkas Tagebuch, Gimpel Verlag) and a Polish one (Pamiętnik Blumki, Media Rodzina). Here you can have a short look inside.

Ghosts In My House

admin — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 12:14:17 +0000

As my fascination for Iwona Chmielewska won’t never cease… Her fantastic book Ghosts In My House (text: Dubravka Ugrešić), published by the Polish publishing house Znak (2010).

When we fall in

admin — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:25:39 +0000

My newest fascina- tion: Sean Hayes and his When we fall in.

Blumka’s Diary – A Sneak Preview

admin — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 11:18:57 +0000

Blumka’s Diary, written and illustrated by Iwona Chmielewska.

The third picture in the first row exemplifies best how the ready pages will look like.

Please enlarge and delight the eye!

Blumka’s Wardrobe

admin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:59:11 +0000

Just yesterday arrived from Toruń this wonderful catalogue, collecting the whole "wardrobe" of Blumka’s Diary.

In this marvellous (I’m not promising too much!) picture book, Iwona Chmielewska is telling about Janusz Korczak’s famous Dom Sierot, from the viewpoint of Blumka, a nine-year-old girl. The book not only describes the everyday life in an orphanage, but also shows what amazing things the Old Doctor was able to achieve thanks to his pedagogy of respect. A meaningful way to commemorate them all: the great pedagog, physician and author Janusz Korczak, his staff and the nearly 200 pupils who in 1942 lost their lives in Treblinka.

Blumka’s Diary will be published this autumn by Gimpel Verlag. The Polish edition will be presented by Media Rodzina at the Krakow Book Fair.

Books are like …

admin — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:36:24 +0000

… lobster shells, we surround ourselves with ‘em, then we grow out of ‘em and leave ‘em behind, as evidence of our earlier stages of development. Dorothy L. Sayers

Out of the void

admin — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 10:35:56 +0000

The last of my priceless Korean trophies: Iwona Chmielewska’s Room in the Heart, BIUM (text: Kwak Young Kwon), published by Agibooks.

Most beautiful moment

admin — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:32:12 +0000

from the Prize Giving Ceremony: Iwona Chmielewska receiving her Bologna Ragazzi Award. Right at her side – the author of The House of The Mind: Maum, Kim Hee-Kyung.

Look at all the smiling faces!