Kalina Muhova lives and works in Rome, Italy. She is an illustrator and comics artist. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. Her first authored comic book for children was Upside Down Diana, which received a special mention from critics in the Comics – Early Reader category at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. She has illustrated texts by Marco Nucci (Sofia from the Ocean), Atanas Dalchev (The Balcony), and many others. Muhova teaches creative writing and comics at the New Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. After her works I’m Sorry and Thank You, she also published the autobiographical graphic novel I Hate Summer. She has illustrated children’s books for Bulgarian publishing houses based on texts by Lev Tolstoy and William Faulkner. Along with her participation in comics forums, she has been nominated and awarded at festivals in Rome (Bartoli Prize at ARF! Festival) and Lucca (Gran Guinigi for Best Comic).
Upside Down Diana
Author: Kalina Muhova
Illustrator: Kalina Muhova
Year of publication: 2019
Publisher: Tochitsa
Number of pages: 64
Format: 175 x 247, hardback
ISBN: 978-619-186-792-9
A story about the Bulgarian Rose Valley, about an energetic little girl who sinks into the kingdom of plants, where she turns out to be... a giant, capable of destroying or saving an endangered idyll. But all’s well that ends well when it ends with pancakes.
Upside Down Diana mixes the mundane with the fantastical as it chronicles the adventures of a spirited little girl, Diana. While visiting her grandmother and grandfather, Diana meets a mysterious flower people. The rhythm of the text and the ever-changing design of the pages paint a compelling picture of childhood. The book manages to get its environmental message across without being preachy – by simply telling a truly enjoyable story to read.
- The jury of the International Children’s Book Festival in Bologna awarded the book a prize in the Young Reader category.
The book is part of the exhibition Joy, Sadness and Hope. 25 Bulgarian Children’s Book Illustrators
Kalina Muhova
Upside Down Diana
