화가 빈센트 반 고흐에게서 영감을 얻은 초현실적이고 매력적인 그림책 『귀』가 보물창고 〈I LOVE 그림책〉 컬렉션으로 출간되었다. 에스토니아의 대표적인 일러스트레이터 피레트 라우드는 ‘어느 날 갑자기 머리가 없이 홀로 남겨진 귀’라는 설정을 통해 관계와 정체성에 대한 질문을 하고, 경청과 수용에 대한 의미를 탐색하는 기발하고 독특한 우화를 선보인다. 어느 날 아침, 잠에서 깨어났을 때 귀는 자신이 혼자라는 것을 깨닫는다. 머리가 어디론가 떠나 버리고 갑자기 귀만 혼자 남겨진 것이다. 귀는 도대체 어떻게 해야 할까? 어디로 가야 할까? 크고 넓은 세상에서 자신이 얼마나 작고 하찮은 존재인지 깨달으며, 귀는 정체성의 위기를 겪는다. 귀는 더 이상 자신이 누구인지조차 모르게 된 것이다. 하지만 귀 앞에 갑자기 등장한 개구리 덕분에 귀는 자신이 가장 잘할 수 있으며, 세상에 기꺼이 제공할 수 있는 게 무엇인지 발견한다. 무겁고 우울한 마음을 가진 개구리는 심하게 깩깩거리는 목소리로나마 자신이 부르는 노래를 들어줄 상대가 간절하게 필요했기 때문이다. 그저 귀 기울여 들어 주는 것이야말로 바로 동정심 어린 귀가 가진 최대의 능력이 아니던가. ‘남의 말을 잘 들어 준다.’고 널리 소문 난 귀에게 곳곳에서 여러 동물들이 찾아온다. 경청과 연민과 공감의 능력을 지닌 귀 덕분에 동물들은 위안과 평온을 얻는다. 하지만 귀의 새로운 행복은 곧 사악한 거미의 거짓말과 유혹에 휘말리고 위협을 받는다. 그러자 귀에게 고마움을 느끼는 새 친구들이 구하러 달려온다. 그리고 그날 이후, 귀는 더 이상 머리를 생각하지 않게 되고 새 친구들 사이에서 비로소 행복해진다.
PIRET RAUD was born in 1971 in Tallinn, Estonia. She has studied printmaking at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Since graduating in 1995 she has been living and working in Tallinn as a graphic artist, book illustrator and author. She has illustrated over 50 books, written 21 books for children and 3 novels and 2 short story collection for adults. Her books have been translated into French, English, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Slovenian, Croatian, Albanian, Hungarian, Korean, Chinese and Occitan (Gascon, Languedocien and Limousin dialects).
Piret Raud has received the Estonian Cultural Endowment’s Award on multiple occasions, most recently for her prose in 2023.
Cut from her head, an Ear finds herself alone in the world and without purpose. At the point of despair, she is approached by a frog who wants someone to listen to his song, even though he isn't a great singer. The kindhearted Ear agrees, and soon she is known far and wide as a sympathetic listener, one whose willingness to hear everyone out provides comfort and relief. But when an evil spider comes along and begins saying spiteful things, the Ear finds herself slowly bound by his malice. Is it the end, or will the many creatures she has helped come to her aid...?
Originally published in Estonia as Kõrv, this delightfully idiosyncratic picture-book is only the second children's book I have read from that country. Ironically, the first, The Adventures of Sipsik, which is considered a 20th-century classic, was created by Eno Raud, the father of Piret Raud. Interestingly, Piret Raud's mother, Aino Pervik, is also a children's book author. When I saw this one come into work, I noticed only the last name, and thought at first that it was another of Eno Raud's books being translated. Although that turned out not to be the case, I enjoyed this one immensely. The story is a bit odd - apparently the ear is meant to be Vincent van Gogh's missing appendage, although that is not specified in the text - but it is also engaging. The artwork, in the meantime, is charming, with appealingly stylized figures and a lovely color palette. I would recommend this one to anyone who enjoyed somewhat surreal stories, or who is looking for picture-books about finding oneself and one's sense of purpose.
Viimasel ajal olen lugenud raamatuid kõige rohkem just selle mõttega, et kuidas ma oleksin lapsena loetavale raamatule vaadanud. Jah, see oleks mulle lapsena väga meeldinud. Ilmselt oleksin lugenud seda mitu korda järjest, uuesti ja uuesti ning nuputanud, et kuidas küll saaks nii teha, et ma oskaksin ka just nii joonistada, et pilt ja tekst on käsikäes.
Kõrv jääb peast ilma ja on esialgu väga õnnetu, kuid ta leiab peagi häid sõpru, kuna on hea kuulaja. Südamlik raamat väikelastele, mis toob välja sõpruse olulisuse ja näitab, kuidas leida sõpru.
THE EAR, much like the Van Gogh that inspired it, is an acquired taste. This book reads much like a folktale. The tone and illustrations are gentle, but there is deeper meaning underneath for those who look and listen closely. It follows Ear who finds herself headless and alone. What is an ear without a head? It turns out an ear has quite a unique gift to offer. Certainly weird, but definitely wonderful, this book offers a tale of friendship and a celebration of uniqueness.
Inspired by van Gogh's missing ear, this beautiful picture book tells how his ear goes looking for a new purpose and finds it by 'lending an ear' to the animal friends it encounters.
U autorskim slikovnicama visoke kvalitete, ravnopravnost ilustracije i teksta dolazi još i više do izražaja – one se ne natječu, već se u potpunosti nadopunjuju i obogaćuju. Naravno, poanta svake slikovnice jest da ilustracije prate tekst i nadopunjavaju ga i postoji nebrojeno mnogo primjera savršene suradnje autora i ilustratora. Ipak, čak je i svjetski poznata Julia Donaldson u intervju za jedan britanski talk-show rekla da je sama svoju vješticu iz slikovnice „Mjesta ima na metli svima“ zamislila drugačije. Kako bi vještica i ostali likovi izgledali da ih je sama Julia naslikala, te bi li oni bolje nadopunjavali tekst slikovnica, možemo samo nagađati. Iako, budući da se radi o ilustracijama Axela Schefflera, u ovom slučaju teško je povjerovati u takvo što.
Vratimo se ipak na temu autorskih slikovnica. Postoji nešto posebno kod ovakvih slikovnica i meni se čini da to proizlazi iz ideje koja je nastala u jednoj glavi od trenutka kada se pojavi, do trenutka zadnjeg slova ili ilustracije, jedinstvena. S jedne strane, to možda znači da će slikovnice s dva autora, tj. s jednim autorom i jednim ilustratorom, biti bogatije jer u njima će se nalaziti dvije priče, ili barem dva doživljaja jedne priče. To, naravno ima svoje prednosti – nezapisani detalji sigurno će se razlikovati kod svakog čitatelja, tako i kod autora i ilustratora. S druge strane, u praksi se čini da je balans ilustracije i teksta u autorskim slikovnicama savršen. To što i tekst i ilustracije prikazuju jednu priču, tj. jednu verziju priče, možda ipak znači da će ta priča biti ispričana na nekoj dubljoj razini i možda uz više detalja.
Uho, estonske autorice i ilustratorice Piret Raud, odličan je primjer autorske slikovnice.
U priči se radi o jednom običnom uhu u neobičnoj situaciji. Uho je ostalo samo, odvojeno od glave, zbog čega se osjeća beskorisno.
„Bez glave – ja sam nitko i ništa“, plakalo je uho.
Uho kreće na put – u potragu za svojom svrhom. Putem susreće različite životinje i pomaže im slušajući njihove probleme, priče i pjev. Uho je pronašlo svoju svrhu, no na put mu staje zla paučica zbog koje uho ponovo posumnja u sebe.
„Kad bi samo glava bila tu. (…) Ona bi znala ušutkati pauka!“
Tada mu u pomoć priskaču sve životinje kojima je na putu uho pomoglo. Zajedno se rješavaju opake paučice i uho napokon shvaća da ga ne određuje glava s koje je došlo.
Slikovnica se bavi ozbiljnom temom na jednostavan način, a ilustracije ovo prate više nego odlično. One su minimalističke, ali istovremeno i veoma detaljne. Bjelina papira iskorištena je kao dio ilustracije i doprinosi kontrastu koji je odrednica priče. Teme (bez)vrijednosti, osjećaja nemoći i samopouzdanja u ovoj su priči obrađene na nesvakidašnji način. Iako neke rečenice direktno izražavaju taj osjećaj nemoći, sama ideja putujućeg uha gotovo je apsurdna – pa nisu li onda i ti osjećaji nemoći i bezvrijednosti apsurdni? Također, zanimljivo je to što su životinje kojima uho pomaže vjerojatno one za koje bi uho mislilo da su bolje ili vrijednije od njega samog, no na svojem putu ono otkriva da baš svaka od njih ima svoje slabosti.
Ova neobična slikovnica bit će zanimljiva već najmlađim čitateljima, no u njoj se nalazi toliko materijala za obrađivanje da i starija djeca mogu u njoj uživati. Vođeno čitanje u grupi i uz vodstvo roditelja ili učitelja čini mi se pogotovo pogodno za otkrivanje dubljih slojeva ove slikovnice.
A brave choice, at least by American standards, with outstanding design. The ear is the main character, and the book thus is about listening, being a lady ear for others concerns, and finally being saved by a friend made by that listening.
One really has to see this book to understand how special it is, because the illustrations are so key to the unique imagination of this author/artist. They run wild within the characters, while the pages are very orderly with loads of white space, and room for a longer text on a page or two.
We adults can see hints of the inspiration from Van Gogh's ear, but the story stands alone for a younger reader to not have any clue about this, or the horror connected to that. An art teacher with middle grade or older, might, however, use this as a fun share connecting to his story, and showing how artist are inspired to spin new ideas from past experiences that may be entirely different.
Whereas Van Gogh had no friends, and this ear starts off finger he is alone, headless, at the beginning of the story, by the end, the ear has many friends.
One might wonder what could have been Van Gogh's life had he listened to others more.
A very interesting book! The ear has lost the head and feels like it’s lost is identity. After wandering, the ear discovers how useful it really is as it listens to a range of animals’ worries. When the ear is trapped by a spiders evil words it manages to escape with the help of its newly found friends. Through this the ear is liberated and realises it doesn’t need the head again! The images are lovely. The ear is placed on various animals to make the animal appear whole again, for example being the shell on a snail and the wing of a butterfly. This suggests the help of the animals helps the ear feel it belongs whilst soothing the worries of the other animals.
Had high hopes for this one, but I failed to see the connection with Van Gogh (ok, so we are talking about a ear being cut off from the head, but that's it in terms of connections). The illustrations are different, but even those started to feel underwhelming by the end and the story is very simple, straightforward and has been told time and time again. The ear ends up alone, does not know what to do with itself, finds it is good at listening to others, forms friendships, struggles a bit after it ends up listening to some who spew idiocies and recovers with the help of friends. Ahm, not impressed.
Imaginative, sympathetic, kind and - of course - beautiful artwork.
It still amazes me how Piret Raud was able to come up with such a creative tale of Vincent van Gogh's severed ear and craft it into such a winsome protagonist, who went around helping others - indiscriminately - by simply... lending an ear. I loved this very much and hope to own a copy one day.
Side note: I thought Piret Raud was male. But, as I found her a female on Thames & Hudson's website, all the dots connected with great sensibility. And what an incredible family she belongs to. I'd love to read some of her parents' books in the future.
Mulle üldiselt ei ole Piret Raua lasteraamatud väga istunud. Kuna selle raamatu inspiratsiooniks on kuulus van Goghi kõrv, siis võtsin lugeda. Seni loetutest parim. Lugu õnnetust kõrvast, kes alguses arvab, et ta on ilma peata mõttetu, aga selgub, et siiski on kõrv parim ühes asjas. Kõrv on nimelt parim kuulaja.
No vot ei suutnud ma panna ennast lapse kingadesse, seat kõrva ärkamine ilma peata tundus mulle nii kohutav ja jabur :D Ja siis veel kõrva siseheitlus, kas hakata seeneks või kalaks vms. See kuulamise osa oli tore, aga lapse arvates igav. Ma ei tea, kas ta korjas sealt üles selle mõtte, kui oluline on kuulamine ja kuidas saab läbi selle sõpru leida?!?
A cheefully charming surreal take about Vincent Van Gogh's disembodied ear feeling deeply disturbed and disoriented over her sudden headlessness. Feeling small and insignificant, the ear discovers a sense of acceptance purpose in neew friendships. Originally published in Estonia.
Didn’t know the ear is cut from Van Gogh. Nevertheless it is a good story to read. It shows that it is good to be a good listener and show empathy to others. The drawings are unique.
Hmm, I like quirky but this was a little bit too out there and I didn't find it satisfying enough. My favourite bit was the sticker on the front saying "inspired by Van Gogh".
Vot see oli vist küll mu kõige lemmikum Piret Raua lugu. Armas ja mõtlema panev sellest, kuidas kõrv on üksikult täitsa peata (hihi) ning kuidas õel jutt võib täitsa sasipuntrasse viia.