A long time ago, in 1356 in Stone Town near Koprivnica lived a boy whose name was Koprivko. He was not like other children of his age. He often thought about the past and the future, how the world looked like before, and how it will look like in a 1000 years time. Most of the time he day-dreamed about it by a creek. One day while he was day-dreaming and walking by the creek, he realised that he had gone too far away from Stone Town, and he decided to go back. But then he noticed a huge black hole in the distance. He remembered his fathers’ words: “ Son, you should never go too far away from Stone Town. There is a very dangerous hole near the creek and many people have disappeared there”. “Those are nothing but stories” – he thought and went black by the hole. When he leaned over to see better, he slipped and fell. He was falling for a long time until suddenly he felt the ground underneath his feet. It was completely dark. He looked around and noticed a source of light. He came out of the tunnel and found himself in the middle of a crowd. He was at a fair. There were many animals and there was plenty of food and cheerful music. Some people were dressed like him. Others were wearing funny and colourful clothes. It seemed strange to him that this fair was during the weekend and not on a Monday, as was he custom.
Today we talk about Koprivko, a book by Branimir Dolenec published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Branimir Dolenec to get to know him better, what is the message he wants to send out with his book Koprivko and the reason why it is important to have educated children.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- What message did you want to send out with your book?
The main message in my stories is education about our country, developing friendships and messages of good in people.
- Was there a particular moment in which you decided to work not only on illustrations but also to dedicate yourself to writing?
I am artist in fine arts, but I was also writing poems and short stories. When I start working for children, I worked on the drawing and the story in parallel, except that I asked for the help of professor Mrs. Martina Trešćec for a quality story. After her giving up after the second story for the sake of motherhood, I simply continued to write and illustrate the stories myself.
- Why is the education of children of such big importance to you?
My opinion is that the education of children is extremely important because it creates new generations with far greater knowledge than previous ones. Thus, we indirectly influence the older generations when it comes to breaking dogmas of the past, especially when it comes to important life issues such as environmental protection and waste management. Because children are not only great students, but they are also great teachers and that is why we must always give them the truth. This was especially evident in my book Koprivko-Eko, which was published in Croatia and which made an excellent theatrical play on the treatment of waste.
- Do you have any special habits while writing?
Writing this type of literature requires a lot of study and knowledge of the subject because you are not allowed to come out in front of children with incorrect facts. That’s why it’s my habit to study the topic for hours and then align the drawings with the story.
- Besides writing and illustrations, you are engaged in many activities. Are you working on new projects that you can tell us about?
Yes, in addition to literature and painting, I also do sports more precisely competitive fishing, but also railway model making in which I develop a special story, but that is an extensive topic too long for this interview.
Europe Books thanks the author Branimir Dolenec once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside him on the editorial path that led to the publication of his book Koprivko. We wish him the best of luck for this novel and for his future works.
To you, my dear reader, I wish you to enjoy the story and the adventures of Koprivko, as well as the profound meaning behind them. Children’s books have a lot to teach us all, no matter how adult we are! They have the ability to spread messages through simple, colourful and curious stories which can solicit our daily reflections!
So, my dear reader, I just have to wish you a good and pleasant reading!
Your Editor!