Kiril Zlatkov - The Mice Go to the Opera

Kiril Zlatkov / The Mice Go to the Opera

Author: Maria Doneva, publisher Janet 45, 2022

The Mice Go to the Opera is a poem for children. This is a classic genre, known in Bulgaria since the interwar period and influenced by European models. Opera is not exactly in vogue among today’s children, but when a group of lovable and smartly dressed mice become enthralled with it, there is a serious likelihood that will change. “Opera is beautiful!” we are assured by both the text and the illustrations in this equally beautiful book. They seem to gently take us by the ears and lead us out of our familiar everyday scenery. The artist Kiril Zlatkov approached Maria Doneva’s wonderful poems in a truly theatrical way, and you can see that they captivated him. The colour palettes are warm and complex, composed of carmine, ochre, sienna, emerald green, ultramarine, cinnabar... The mastered watercolour technique is combined with coloured pencil strokes and tempera accents. There is not a single blank page in the book – the illustrations fill the pages completely and do not let in a single ray of light from the ordinary world outside.

The Mice Go to the Opera

Author: Maria Doneva
Illustrator: Kiril Zlatkov

2022
Janet 45
32 pages
220 x 240, hardback
ISBN 978-619-186-792-9

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Kiril Zlatkov

Kiril Zlatkov lives and works in Sofia. He is active in various fields of the visual arts – graphic design, typography and calligraphy, illustration, graphics, and painting. He graduated with agraphics majorfrom the National Academy of Art, Sofia, and he worked for many years as an art director in leading advertising agencies. He has held several solo exhibitions and participated in many group exhibitions in Bulgaria and around the world. Zlatkov has been the curator of exhibitions dedicated to the new Bulgarian typography, and in recent years, he has been creating illustrated books for children. He has received several awards for illustration and layout, including the Golden Lion, 2014; the Hristo G. Danov, 2015; the Golden Brush, 2017; and the national Konstantin Konstantinov award for children’s illustrations, 2023.

Other books by Kiril Zlatkov