Lyuba Haleva

There are children’s books that people want to own their whole life, to give to their children with the wish that they might in turn pass them on to their children. The Bulgarian playwright and writer Margarit Minkov’s Merry Tickling Laughter, illustrated by the artist Lyuba Haleva, is just this sort. And luckily, it has in two parts. When a text written with talent reaches the heart of a talented artist, then the words and pictures come to life in an organic whole. The characters in this book are strange creatures with curious names. They conduct funny, absurd, and often philosophical dialogues. Lyuba Haleva’s collages and drawings are composed with exceptional flair and taste; they are cut, intertwined, and arranged in unexpected juxtapositions. The stylization of the images has a high degree of abstraction, which opens up enormous spaces for children’s imagination. The colour palettes and characters painted by Lyuba Haleva are as far from realistic as the author’s texts. The angry beetle in boots, the horse on a bicycle, the buttons that talk to ladybugs, the yellow lion with black spots, the mysterious traveller with legs like keys – for each such seemingly impossible subject, she finds an interesting silhouette and solution in the layout of facing pages, turning them into compositions of stunning grace and beauty.