How to get through a long night while you are sick and forced under the covers? Maybe the old red sofa is more than it seems… A special adventure companion who, with a little imagination, will be able to take care of you and make you feel better, just like this book.
“Che Febbre!” by Rina Allek is winner of the Silent Book Contest 2020 – 7th Edition , choosen from the International Jury among 12 finalists from all over the world. This silent story tells us how even a long night with fever can be filled with many dreams, and thanks to imagination, can become a very special adventure. As in a fairy tale, this books with its illustrations of a few strong ad immediate colors, tells us about the power of imagination and of the little things that can make us feel better.
The book is already published by Carthusia Edizioni and it’s available in italian bookshops and online. You can buy it here, for example.
Rina was born on a cold winter day in Moscow and started to draw on the next one. She draws inspiration from everything but fairytales, folklore and ghost stories always imbue her imagination. Observing the world is her favourite thing to do. She loves taking long walks, whether in wild woods or in vibrant cities, making notes and sketches so as not to forget anything interesting. To spot little details, she watches how curtain’s pattern is forming into faces, a moss-covered stump which turns into a figure and shadows that come to live. She listens to an old closet grumbling, bellflowers jingling and bus whispering in the grass. The border between reality and fantasy blurs when someone watches out for the dark. That’s why Rina keeps her sketchbook under the pillow, trying to catch visions before falling aspleep. It is very helpful to have it there so she can draw dreams and nightmares before they vanish from memory. The red centipede came to this book straight from a bad dream: it becomes less scary when you turn nightmares into stories to be told.
Rina has recently graduated from University in Mosco and just started her illustrator career. This is her first published book. She currently works on a TV Channel, making cartoons based on librettos for ballets and operas. But secretly dreaming of quitting job, moving to the sea and creating her own stories.
You can also take a look to the other finalist of the Silent Book Contest 2020, the Virtual Exhibition is still available online here.