German / Germany
Alula: Garten. Alula: Urwald
(Alula: Garden. Alula: Jungle)
Crameri, Reto
(illus.)
Mannheim: Kunstanstifter, 2023. – [58] p.
ISBN 978-3-948743-26-0
Imaginary trip | Garden | Jungle | Reversible book | Picture book | Wordless book
Reading age: 2+
White Ravens issue: 2023
In his reversible picture book »Alula: Garten. Alula: Urwald«, Swiss illustrator Reto Crameri proves that it is not necessary to use words to tell a story to open up an entire world. Read from one side of the book, two children – a girl and a boy – discover a dark cat in their garden; reversed and read from the other side, the same two children follow a yellow butterfly through the jungle. They chase each of these creatures and soon come to a place where the plants have grown to overtower them, where clothespins are suddenly crocodiles, and where a tree becomes both a mountain and a mangrove forest. In lush colours, with clear contours and equally energetic brushstrokes, Reto Crameri gives shape to children’s subjective worlds and visualises their imaginative playfulness. He takes viewers into children’s imaginations and simultaneously sends readers on their own journeys, inviting them to tell ever new tales. [IG]