Pohádky a MALÉhRY is a children’s book designed by graphic designer Tereza Šmídová and illustrator Karolína Stryková, which aims to inspire children to express their imagination by reading and playing. With a cardboard theatre and darling paper puppets which come as part of the book, children can play out their own fairy tales and most imaginative stories.
With such a special project, we wanted to ask Šmídová and Stryková more about the making-off of Pohádky a MALÉhRY. And they were kind enough to give us some of their time.
Where did the idea for the book come from?
„The creative concept was straightforward. Create a book, which would become an integral part of children’s’ nights, spent reading books with their parents before bed and help to create a bond between them. We wanted to make a book, which will bring joy into people’s lives and wouldn‘t end at the collection yard after finishing it.“ – Graphic designer Tereza Šmídová explains.
…we wanted the whole thing to be – again, not just some ordinary children’s book, but something bigger. Something amazing.
„The concept of the book was a long process, which started a few years ago. I – as the illustrator of the book – already worked with theatre Maléhry – who is behind the book – and Danka – who wrote the whole thing, on our first book (4 – 5) years ago. We were excited to do something else together since then. Danka wrote these beautiful fairy tales for television, and since we had only small space for illustrations there, we knew that we need to make a book out of it. But we wanted the whole thing to be – again, not just some ordinary children’s book, but something bigger. Something amazing. Each of us had many ideas, we talked about it a lot and lived in the process for more than a year. The concept was basically to create an interactive book, a big one, a very colorful one with lots of illustrations. Mostly to have fun during the process and to bring something more to children and their parents. We invited Tereza– the graphic designer, and Marcela – the publisher or children’s books – into the process, and together we created something which we hope, is special. Not only great fairy tales but also an artist’s book with great typography, made of quality materials and a bit crazy and odd. “– says Karolína Stryková.
…children’s first contact with a book is a moment, which will never be forgotten. Children‘s books should be made of a special paper, that underlines coloring of illustrations and makes a little gem from the ordinary book …. and Pergraphica® is exactly the type of paper, which will make it happen.
The book is printed on Pergraphica® Natural Rough 150 gsm with a Remake Sky 250 gsm cover sleeve, both exclusively available at Europapier. Were these papers chosen for a special reason?
“…children’s first contact with a book is a moment, which will never be forgotten. Children‘s books should be made of a special paper, that underlines coloring of illustrations and makes a little gem from the ordinary book …. and Pergraphica® is exactly the type of paper, which will make it happen.”When we were looking for a paper for our new book, we found EuropapierBohemia, which offered us many options. One of them was Pergraphica®, which we were immediately impressed by. We think, that children’s first contact with a book is a moment, which will never be forgotten. Children‘s books should be made of a special paper, that underlines coloring of illustrations and makes a little gem from the ordinary book …. and Pergraphica® is exactly the type of paper, which will make it happen.” – Tereza Šmídová.
“From the beginning, we were pretty sure, that we need a fine quality paper for our book. The paper that will be strong enough, with high opacity, will show the colors just right and which will be soft and nice at the same time. We had an idea about the paper which is not just white, but also not yellow. It was important for us, that the feeling of the paper in our book is a bit luxurious and fancy and we are very happy with the outcome. We knew that our fairy tales, illustration, and graphics are great and have to be printed on something special, seeing as how some ordinary paper would never be enough for us.” – Karolína Stryková.
You can buy your own copy here.
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