The Heart of a City
Zrakogled
Country: Slovenia
Original title: Srce mesta
Original language: Slovenian
Age group: 8 - 12
Categories: Illustration
Inclusive towards: Socio-economic background, migration
Author: Bojana Vajt
Illustrator: Ivan Jurković
Number of pages: 20
Format (in mm): 24x24
Info on rights holder: KUD AAC Zrakogled
Website: https://zrakogled.wordpress.com
Email: helia.zrakogled@gmail.com
You can request a full PDF and English translation by contacting helia.zrakogled@gmail.com
KUD AAC Zrakogled is a small NGO based in the multicultural region of Istria. Since 1996 we have been active in the fields of performance and publishing. Our editorial emphasis is on regional authors and quality prose from Mediterranean countries. In the last few years, we have been involved in several multicultural projects and projects which deal with human migration. Our picture book “The Heart of a City” is a part of such project
Summary:
The storyline of the picture book “The Heart of a City” is mostly told through illustration. It describes how every city once had a heart that accepted everyone from near and far, and how in time this heart gets lost among the hundreds of buildings of all kinds that pop up. However, at the same time several small hearts appear all around the city as well. In the end, readers are invited to find these hearts, and tell their own stories.
The picture book is followed by an afterword which acknowledges human migration as a part of human destiny. Immigrants and refugees are not somebody else – they are us and our ancestors. In Slovenia this picture book is a part of a wider storytelling project which is aimed at deepening our understanding of human migration and developing empathy towards past, present, and future immigrants. The afterword seeks to inspire and guide
children to explore and tell their stories, be it their own, their family’s, or from their local experience. We believe that the picture book is universal, but that the afterword should be adapted to suit local or regional conditions and circumstances. International partners who are interested in joining our storytelling project are kindly invited to contact the author.
Info on the author:
Bojana Vajt, born 1962 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Bojana Vajt is a nobody. Her lifetime struggle to attain some kind of applicable identity, develop a self-definition, or produce a consistent personal history failed, so she gave it up and now lives happily ever after. She tells stories and sometimes writes them down as well.
contact information: bojana.vajt@gmail.com
Info on the illustrator:
Ivan Jurković D.A., born 1982 in Belgrade, Serbia. If we don’t count several oils on canvas of the Hogwarts castle, which he painted for the sheer pleasure of doing it, “The Heart of a City” is his illustration debut.
website: https://ivanjurkovic.portfoliobox.net/