Maja KastelicRecensioni

I would rate this book a 3/5 stars. The wordless picture book doesn't have much to the plot, at all. Each page is just another area of the house with the boy following the cat and finding drawings. I would say that it is a good wordless picture book to work with setting. Although the pictures are dark and grainy, there is a lot of small details. I also don't think it is a good lesson. It is not a good idea to show children that following stray cats into random homes will lead to positive outcomes.

A boy leaves his home in a dark night, no words and the clues are abundant within the pictures and the cat. The story in what you make it.

A boy with a backpack trots out of his tall row house, but pauses when comes to an open door with a cat peeking out. He follows the cat into the house and through the rooms and up the many staircases, gathering up drawings from the floor as he goes. The cat makes sure the boy continues to follow where it leads; by the time to boy pops his head into the attic, he's holding a whole stack of drawings, and there sits the artist herself - a little girl just the same age. Together, they fold the drawings into paper airplanes and fly them out over the city.

The palette is largely sepia-toned, with a few areas of brighter color to draw the eye. The overall impression is of old, slightly grimy or sooty city houses, and a cluttered interior, but an expanse of space above the rooftops.

Rating: 2.5

Though I recognize their developmental and artistic value, I don’t “read” many wordless picture books. As a result, I’m not sure how equipped I am to judge their merit. As an adult, I find that I need words in order to find the story in picture books and graphic novels. Maja Kastelic does provide some words (as well as letters and symbols) in her book, A Boy and a House, but these are part of her illustrations—messages written on walls mostly, but also titles and names on the spines of books—G.G. Marquez, The Summer Book—and the covers of record albums—“Cash” (as in Johnny?) rather than actual text. The overall import of the messages is not entirely clear.

As alluring and mysterious as I found Kastelic’s art, in the end I can’t say I could figure out the point of her book—what she was actually trying to achieve with it. I also haven’t had the opportunity to “test-drive” the book with kids, which can be a really enlightening experience. (Kids often notice things that I don’t.) I also wonder if reading a print copy would have made a difference. The e-book version I had was certainly frustrating because it the images (even when expanded) were small on my i-pad, the artist’s palette is so dark, and her work so intricately detailed. I had the sense that there was some code I needed to break in order to understand what I was seeing and that I ultimately lacked the smarts to unlock the secrets of the book.

The “narrative” (if it can be called that when a conventional text is lacking) begins with a small boy exiting his house on Grim Street, apparently at nightfall. The house is located right beside the one where, according to a wall plaque, the poet “Francois Sad” once lived. The lights are on at the boy’s and others’ houses along this very European-looking street, and the reader can see people getting on with their evening—talking, eating, gazing at themselves in mirrors, or looking down on the street from upper-floor windows. The boy is on his way, apparently with a specific destination in mind. A woman in a red dress is ahead of him, but looks back, perhaps hearing his excited footsteps. A man walking a small dog passes him, but some graffiti instructs the boy to look forward.

In the end, the boy ends up at a house on Andersen street (Hans Christian?). There, a black cat appears to have been waiting for him at a door that is slightly ajar. Inside, the untidy front hall has mailboxes on one wall, as though the place has been divided into apartments. There are messages on the wall, one seemingly from the author (the name “Maja” is visible) that directs people to take care of the house; another, scrawled on the wall, reminds those who’ve entered to close doors. On the floor, there is a child’s drawing of a girl in the sun.

After picking up this drawing, the boy is led by the cat up a series of staircases. Higher and higher in the house he goes, past book cases, bird cages, comfy arm chairs, an old record player, chandeliers and lanterns, walls of framed art work. At one point, the reader sees what appears to be part of an alligator’s behind a partially closed door. And there are more wall messages: about not planning so much, about letting life surprise you, and about looking at the stars.

At the top of the house, the boy finds the artist: a little girl. Together they do look out at the stars, as well as fold the little girl’s scattered drawings into paper airplanes, which they send sailing out into the night.

On the Picturebook Makers website, the artist Maja Kastelic writes that her book is a “silent” one, “about a little boy’s morning wandering [I saw it as evening], and also, or even more, a story about going up and following the light, about curiosity and daring, getting lost and finding, friendship, secrets, and also about hoping for and believing in happy endings. I also wished to make it as a homage to literature, illustration, and to the nostalgic beauty of old times and timeless things.”

I suppose Kastelic has achieved the things she wanted to, and she has produced some lovely art in the process. Having said that, I find the book just too nebulous and vague to fully satisfy—which doesn’t mean there aren’t some children who will enjoy puzzling over the pictures. Next time, I’d prefer to see Kastelic work with an established children’s author who has a stronger sense of story. I think she could do a lot to enrich another’s written text, but for me, at least, her illustrations on their own just aren’t enough..

Thank you to Net Galley and Annick Press for providing me with a digital copy of this book for review purposes.½

I’ve always believed that visiting a gallery and looking at the works of Art is a unique experience. I find it almost transcendental. From well-known masterpieces to contemporary abstract creations, a painting is a highly mystical, cryptic experience. When we read a book, the story is told to us, we love it (or not) and move on. But a painting is the vision of the artists, known only to them, unfolded on the canvas. What we make of it is our own perspective. Take the unique Mona Liza, for example. When you stand before her, you cannot help but wonder. Who was she? Why is she smiling? What did she know that we don’t? And when we try to explain, we immediately form stories. This is what is going to happen when you have the beautiful chance to ‘meet’ A Boy and a House by Maja Kastelic. A story without words, a comic that will make you close your eyes and daydream. Or take a notebook and, perhaps, write your own scenes and dialogues. One thing is certain. The illustrations will transport you to the innocent, beautiful world of children.

You will see the nightly streets, beautiful houses with red roofs and big windows. They did remind me of Ljubljana (Kastelic is from beautiful Slovenia) but it could be any lovely European city. Faces are looking through the lace curtains at us and a young boy who’s walking, smiling, carrying his school bag. It’s evening. Where is he going? Where was he? A woman in a red dress is passing by, a girl wearing a polka-dot frock is peering at him through a half-opened door. Mice are dancing, lit by the street lamps, a dog is smiling, black birds are resting on the rooftops, the antennas and the chimneys lit by the moon. The streets aren’t ordinary. The boy is passing ‘’Grimm Street’’ and a house where a poet named Francois Sad was born. He decides to enter a house in Andersen Street following a gray cat. So, you see? The boy is walking through tales to discover a treasure.

In the house, there are books, children’s drawings, keys, dolls, cages. Photographs and beautiful paintings, old records, teapots, cards, woolen spools. Everything is scattered, everything has its own place. The house seems abandoned and occupied at the same time. And the cat leads the boy to a beautiful surprise.

A story without words, a comic that has all the ingredients of a complex tale. Each one of us can create a thousand stories just by looking at a single item in the marvelous pictures by Maja Kastelic.

Many thanks to Annick Press, Maja Kastelic and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com

Opening the first page of ‘Deček in Hiša’ (A Boy and a House) one can easily tell that this children's picture book is by a gifted artist and storyteller.

Maja Kastelic has a BFA in painting and an MA in philosophy and visual theory. Prior to the two years she spent working on this spectacular book, she worked as a retouching artist restoring frescos.

There are numerous details for children and adults to absorb in this wordless picture book.

I love the old world setting and the tonal quality of this book is unique and Maja's use of light is magnificent!

This book begins by showing the elegance of old Slovenian townhouses. These murky buildings have intricately sculpted ironwork. This leads to a sense of mystery further induced by people peeking out the windows and darting about outdoors.

Mice are peering out the heavily draped window, while the cat is luring a boy in a striped shirt inside. The boy follows the cat as they climb up staircases and walk across tiled and wooden floors. They go room to room and pass by toys, birdcages, hatracks and beautiful bookcases lit by chandeliers.

On the walls are portraits and I love that some of the portraits appear to be glancing at one another. (If you look closely, you will see the author's sons in frames on the wall.)

The boy is collecting drawings as he moves throughout the building to the attic where he'll meet a friend for some fun.

This wordless picture book is a treasure! Each illustration is a visual feast and tells the story with a sense of mystery, imagination, discovery, friendship, and fun.

I received a copy of this amazing book from Annick Press and Net Galley for an honest review.

This wordless picture book by Slovenian author Maja Kastelic features a boy following a cat into and then through an old house. Along the way, he finds drawings scattered about rooms. The rooms are filled with "vintage" items. He finds a surprise awaiting in the attic. Although the book contains no words, it will certainly produce a lot of discussion for children who will be curious about what is contained in the picture. I believe the pictures were created with watercolors, but they are fairly "drab", probably in an effort to invoke the "old house feel." Just the thought of an unsupervised boy of this age will make many parents and other adults cringe, but others will view it as a product of another culture or as historic. I downloaded this "Read Now" title from NetGalley with the expectation I would write an honest review.