A Book's Journey
The A Book's Journey project was developed by the Slovenian Book Agency of Slovenia (JAK RS) in collaboration with the Reading Society of Slovenia (BDS) to showcase the process of creating a book, from the author to the reader. Through a comic by Slovenian writer Žiga X Gombač and illustrator David Krančan, a charming character, the Bookworm, guides children in a fun and engaging way through the world of books.
The project's goals include:
- Encouraging reading among students in the 1st and 2nd trimester of primary school.
- Illustrating the book creation process and familiarizing students with careers in publishing and book marketing.
- Introducing illustration and comics as important forms of literary expression.
- Promoting author visits to schools and connecting students with creators.
A Book's Journey is availible as a traveling exhibition featuring posters that visit schools, libraries, and other institutions. It is also available as a comic book of the same name, which was first published in Slovenian in 2016.
The comic and exhibition A Book's Journey are organized into the following thematic sections:
- The Birth of the Book – an introduction to the author, publisher, printing, and e-books.
- The Book Meets the Reader – an exploration of bookstores and libraries.
- Falling in Love with Books – a presentation of tools for promoting books to readers, including book promotions, awards, and projects.
- In the Embrace of Words – a meeting between the reader and the book's creators, where our hero, the Bookworm, finds his new home.
In 2021, a second booklet titled "A Book's Journey: The Mystery of the Missing Letters" was created, initially released in Slovenian. This interactive educational story, also in comic form, presents ten insightful sayings about reading, emphasizing the importance of books, stories, reading, and writing in our lives.
Both comics, "A Book's Journey" and "The Mystery of the Missing Letters," are available in multiple languages: English (translated by Gregor Timothy Čeh), German (translated by Liza Linde), Italian (translated by Lucia Gaja Scuteri), and Serbian (translated by Biljana Babić). We have also produced a multilingual poster for "A Book's Journey" and an exhibition in German.
For more information about the A Book's Journey project, please contact:
Sabina TavÄŤar, T: +386 1 320 28 33, E: sabina.tavcar@jakrs.si.