An Explanatory Dictionary

The beauty of words and paper. Plus inspiration and material for your own creative work

A single sentence can be worth more than a whole chapter.

Mummy. Teddy. Ball. Snow. Home. Which words capture and describe the world of a child? What seems important to a four-year-old? From his surroundings, what will imprint itself as a key memory? And what will be its colour and mood?    

Poet and prose writer Olga Stehlíková has compiled a poetic explanatory dictionary for use by children and adults. Each headword gets a double-page spread and an illustration, and is an entry point to a world of emotion, detail, memory and association. Some headwords will make you slap your forehead and exclaim: Why did I never think of that before? Others will fill you with the warmth of a fond memory. All will provide you with food for thought and things to discuss, even if you and your children start out by seeing ordinary things a little differently.

Michaela Casková’s watercolour collages add another dimension. Some are economical and minimalistic, others are teeming with life and detail – "because the earth contains all kinds of treasure".

"Very minimalistic and very beautiful! In the context of her work, Olga Stehliková’s Explanatory Dictionary can be placed in the “lyrical non-fiction” stream. Behind apparently simple sentences we find deep thoughts. You can see that the author has fought for every syllable."  — Radek Malý, writer

Reader age: 8+

Illustrated by Michaela Casková

Michaela Casková (born 1988) is a visual artist, instructor and itinerant gardener. As an active member of the Finnish association Mustarinda, she is involved in projects that bring together art, science, and ecological and cultural diversity. She lives and works principally in Finland, although she makes frequent returns to the Czech Republic.