Poetry

Who doesn’t like the sea? Especially when he is at home in Central Europe. Radek Malý (1977), a writer and a translator, a university lecturer and a Germanist, has written a collection of poems for children where the element mentioned in the title has seeped into almost every line. And not only as a theme but by its strong and distinctive rhythm as well. In the texts, one can hear the endless silence under the sea and the lively bustle on the coast: sometimes real, sometimes magnified by the imagination. Clams, algae and a letter in a bottle play their roles, as well as the foam-capped waves, a lighthouse, a harbour, boats, sailors and their songs. The subtlety and playfulness of his childlike vision combined here naturally with a tinge of melancholy. The book, delightfully illustrated by Pavel Čech, is a companion to the book called Listonoš vítr (2011), which was included in the IBBY 2014 Honour List.