How Lora Learned to Count to Ten

Author: Sotir Gelev

Illustrator: Sotir Gelev

Year of publication: 2018

Publisher: Enthusiast

Number of pages: 72

Format: 205 x 260, paperback

ISBN: 978-619-164-271-7

Laura could only count to one. “That’s enough for me,” she told herself. “I can count every single thing I see.” “Why is everyone making me count past one?” Laura thought. “I’ll learn when I go to school. Then I’ll also learn to read. Until then, I prefer to be read to.”

A cat by the name of Sergei Yesenin, a monster with two teeth, three buckets of diamonds, four fake gold coins, five different-colored fairies, six little mice, seven silver buttons, eight spider legs, nine mushrooms, and ten stones. No, there aren’t the ingredients for a very dubious soup recipe, but everything that makes Sotir Gelev’s book How Lora Learned to Count to Ten essential reading for any child seeking adventure.

Winner of the 2018 Quill Literary Club annual award in the category of children’s literature.

The book is part of the exhibition Joy, Sadness and Hope. 25 Bulgarian Children’s Book Illustrators

Sotir Gelev

Sotir Gelev lives in Sofia and works as an artist and writer. He graduated from the National Academy of Art, Sofia. When still a student, he joined the team of the legendary Bulgarian comics magazine Rainbow, and together with his brother Penko Gelev and their studio Gekon, he creates television series for children, full-length animated films, documentaries, and feature films. He has won numerous illustration awards, including two Quillawards – for the graphic novel Ilycho, August, and the Seven Dwarfs, in 2016, and How Lora Learned to Count to Ten, in 2018. The Adventures of Mr. Blueberry received the Hristo G. Danov award in 2021, and that same year, Gelev was awarded the Konstantin Konstantinov prize for children’s literature for his book Lullabies for Fairies and Monsters, published by Enthusiast.

Other books by Sotir Gelev