Greek / Greece
O Phyllos
(Leaf head)
Glōssiōtē, Elena
(Glossioti, Elena)
(text)
Delēboria, Myrtō
(Delivoria, Myrto)
(illus.)
Athēna: Thines, 2015. – 124 p.
ISBN 978-618-80209-4-8
Forest | Love of nature | Environmentalism | Fantasy fiction
Reading age: 10+
White Ravens issue: 2016
Fyllos (Leaf head) lives in a forest full of fragrant clearings, mythic legends and tree houses, and has leaves instead of hair on his head. The tree boy grows up carefree, surrounded by the song of the wind, the wisdom of animals and the love of his people. But one day, just as his grandfather had warned, intruders destroy the forest. The boy is abducted by a hunter to a place where green is forbidden and where he is treated in a degrading manner. After he manages to escape, he finds his way back to his world, and helps to nurture it back to health, with the help of two allies. Elena Glossioti’s poetic fantasy story is about the preciousness and vulnerability of life, in which nature and the experience of nature are portrayed in a sensuous, captivating way. The wonderfully designed small-format book comes from the independent publisher Thines and was awarded the prize of IBBY Greece in 2016 for the book cover, designed by renowned illustrator Myrto Delivoria.