Czech / Czech Republic
Jedééém!
(Let’s go-o-o-o!)
Stará, Ester
(text)
Urbánková, Marie
(illus.)
Praha: Pop-Pap, 2018. – [26] p. + 1 poster + 2 cut-out sheets
ISBN 978-80-906625-9-9
Vehicle | Pop-up book | Picture book
Reading age: 2+
White Ravens issue: 2020
This picture book was a wonderful surprise in the Czech Republic and a great hit for the publisher Pop-Pap, whose elaborately produced books appear in limited print editions. In “Jedééém!” every double page is dedicated to a different transport vehicle. Whether car, rocket, submarine, or bicycle – Marie Urbánková (b. 1995) translates every ride into fresh, unfussy papercut illustrations, showing it in action. That said, the book’s real show-stoppers are the many flaps that conceal further little details. Alongside the pictures, crisp couplets invite readers to peer under the flaps to discover, for instance, what animal is being lit up by the bicycle light, what snack the truck driver is eating en route, or which airplane passengers have found their seats. The snappy verses are from Ester Stará (b. 1969), who consistently pursues enthralling book projects and is as much at home with a picture book as with a book of children’s prose or verse. [KW]