Project Description

Portuguese National Illustration Award 2003Danuta Wojciechowska

Canada / Portugal

Danuta Wojciechowska was born in Quebec / Canada. She graduated in communication design in Zurich, followed by a postgraduate degree in England. In Lisbon she founded her company Lupa Design. For her children’s book illustrations, she received, among others, the Portuguese National Illustration Award in 2003 and the Portuguese Women of Culture Award in 2014.

© Orlando Teixeira

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The Water and the Eagle

The Water and the Eagle (“A água e a águia”) is about a period of drought and how it is finally stopped by an old eagle. This old eagle starts eating the ”i“ in the name of her species, so ”Águia“ (Eagle) is transformed into ”Água“ (Water), and this way the water comes back. But only for a time: after the eagles have discovered how great it is to eat ”i”s, they cannot stop, and the “rio” (river) stays without the ”i” and dries out. Finally the oldest eagle decides to take a risk and despite everybody’s warnings, flies to a cliff and vomits all the ”i“s she has yet eaten – and the water and the river come back!

This is a poetic and beautifully illustrated book about how ingenuity and courage can change the world.

Quotes

The Water and the Eagle

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The Amazed Rain

Suddenly, in an African village, the rain does not fall, it is suspended, “amazed”, says a little boy from the village. The river is also drying up. Is it the fault of a factory nearby? What role do the old myths and legends play here? In The Amazed Rain (“A Chuva Pasmada”) Mia Couto leads us to a magical universe.

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Little Word Kisses

The magic power of words is the theme of Little Word Kisses (“Beijos de Palavrinha”). When Maria Poeirinha fell ill, Uncle Jaime Litorânio said that only the sea, which she had never seen, could cure her. The girl was too weak for the journey, but her brother Zeca Zonzo found a way to take her to see the sea.

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The Kitten and the Dark

Pintalgato, a kitten, is always being warned by his mother not to step beyond the borders of the day. But he, crazy to discover what hides under the shadow of the night, decides to venture out. In engaging prose and full of little poetic surprises, in The Kitten and the Dark (“O gato e o escuro”) Mia Couto elaborates a beautiful fable about the afflictions and enchantments of the unknown.

RIGHTS

CHILDREN’S BOOKS
The Water and the Eagle (“A água e a águia”)
(Ill. by Danuta Wojciechowska)
Lisbon: Caminho 2018, 27 p.

Little Word Kisses (“Beijos de palavrinha”)
(Ill. by Danuta Wojciechowska)
Lisbon: Caminho 2008, 29 p.
Brazil: Língua Geral 2006

The Kitten and the Dark (“O gato e o escuro”)
(Ill. by Danuta Wojciechowska)
Lisbon: Caminho 2001, 16 p.
Brazil: Companhia das Letras 2008
France: Chandeigne 2003

FOR YOUNG READERS
The Amazed Rain (“A chuva pasmada”)
(Ill. by Danuta Wojciechowska)
Lisbon: Caminho 2004, 74 p.
Argentina: Puerto de Palos 2017
France: Chandeigne 2014