Wer ist eigentlich Anete Melece? Und was mag/macht sie für Kinderbücher? Drei Fragen an die Illustratorin aus Lettland.
– How did you start to write books for children (and young people)?
Already as a child I used to write and illustrate my own stories, but out of some reason around age 10 I stopped doing it. Later while I was studying at the Art Academy of Latvia, I did an exchange semester at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts at the Illustration department and this is where I rediscovered the joy of drawing stories. One of the projects I did there was a little comic book about a hedgehog who sold all his needles. When I came back to Latvia someone suggested that I should show it to children’s book publisher “Liels un mazs”. I did it and around a year later they offered me to illustrate a story book by Maira Dobele “The school of living wrong”. This was year 2009 and since then we still continue a fruitful cooperation.
– Which of your books should everybody be familiar with (and why)?
All of them of course! 😀
Well, actually my favourite one is the smallest of all of them – “Pea children” from series “Bicki-Buck” where I illustrated a poem written by Rainis. I really enjoyed drawing all the little green peas, which are very simple and look quite the same at first, but after a closer look one can discover many different personalities.
Another book that I can suggest is a poetry book written by Juris Kronbergs – “The Book of Clouds” because it is dedicated entirely for clouds (and who doesn’t like clouds?) and it has a wonderful lightness.
And one of the latest ones is “Sveiks, Vali!” by Lauris Gundars, that has been recently translated also to German and Russian. It is a sincere story about an overly shy grandfather and his always curious granddaughter who doesn’t understand why her grandpa is never greeting other people. Why? Because it shows how many doors can suddenly open after one himself opens up first.
Nun, eigentlich ist mein Favorit das kleinste davon – „Erbsenkinder“ aus der Reihe „Bicki-Buck“, in der ich ein von Rainis geschriebenes Gedicht illustriert habe. Ich habe es wirklich genossen, all die kleinen grünen Erbsen zu zeichnen, die sehr einfach wirken und anfangs ziemlich gleich aussehen, aber beim genauen Hinsehen kann man viele verschiedene Persönlichkeiten entdecken.
Ein weiteres Buch, das ich vorschlagen kann, ist ein Gedichtband von Juris Kronbergs – „The Book of Clouds“, weil es ganz den Wolken gewidmet ist (und wer mag schon keine Wolken?) und eine wunderbare Leichtigkeit hat.
Und eines der neuesten ist „Sveiks, Vali!“/ „Hallo Walfisch!“ von Lauris Gundars, das kürzlich auch ins Deutsche und Russische übersetzt wurde. Es ist eine warmherzige Geschichte über einen übermäßig schüchternen Großvater und seine immer neugierige Enkelin, die nicht versteht, warum ihr Opa nie andere Menschen grüßt. Warum? Weil es zeigt, wie viele Türen sich plötzlich öffnen können, wenn man sich selbst zuerst öffnet.
– Which theme or motif would you love to work on in a children’s book some day?
I often draw humans in their daily life and I really like to do that, but I think I am a bit tired of this rather realistic style. I am still interested in different human conditions and emotions though, but I would like to explore more abstract ways of visualising them.