The most captivating and original book
The Kiosk
The Kiosk is an unexpected and original picture book about being stuck and finding a way to get free
Written and illustrated by Anete Melece
Translated by Elīna Braslina
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Description
A charming and original picture book about pursuing your dreams and believing in yourself. With cutout kiosk window to spark imaginative play and interactive reading.
Imagine living and working every day in the same small kiosk. For years, the kiosk has been Olga’s life. She spends her days inside reading travel magazines and dreaming of escaping to distant places. One day a chance occurrence turns her upside down—literally—and sets her off on an unexpected journey.
This inspiring and quirky picture book for 5 to 8 year olds contains bright and original illustrations full of humour and warmth. Its front cover features a clever cutout kiosk window so that young readers can see Olga stuck behind her kiosk or use their imagination and get behind it to sell things from their own pretend shop!
A warm and curious story about someone who is stuck finding a way to escape their daily routine and be free. The story was originally produced as an internationally recognised short animation screened at over 100 festivals around the world.
Anete Melece is a Latvian author, illustrator and film animator. She has published a number of books and her animated films have received awards at multiple international film festivals, including Kiosk (2013).
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Book Details
Country of Origin Latvia Book Size ISBN
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Reviews
Available worldwide from your local bookstore or online.
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English Association –
The cover of the book is clever with a cut out like the window in the kiosk. The artwork is attractive throughout. Highly recommended for young children but older children could find much to contemplate here.
Family Times Magazine –
The gloriously-coloured illustrations have you peering at details and cheering Olga on as she finds a way to change her life.
IBBY UK –
The Kiosk steps out of this straitjacket, introducing young readers to a very different visual language and style, expanding horizons and visual literacies.
BookTrust –
Anete Melece’s beautiful painted illustration uses bold strokes to create an endearing childlike style yet with lots of gorgeous detail and colour.
School Reading List –
Quite unlike anything else you will read this year, this highly illustrated story is one of those books where children will spot or realise something new each time they reread it.
Volume Books –
Anete Melece’s illustrations are delightful, with plenty to seek out in the pictures adding to this simple but charming tale…each page is lively in content and colour palette…The text is both funny and a little melancholy, but this story is mostly joyful and has a wonderful ending—you never know where an unexpected incident may take you.
Just Imagine –
This is a book to read aloud right across the primary age range. It offers great opportunities to ask questions, develop imaginative thinking, promote rich discussion and follow-on creative writing and art…The Kiosk surprised me and made me smile as much as it made me think. It is an original and uplifting story about being stuck, discovering freedom and in the words of the author, is about finding a way to “start a journey to your happy place exactly as you are.”
Book Nerd Mummy –
It’s surprising, unique, playful and the characters are so likable. This is one that is sure to “stick with you” after you read it. My kids thought it was the best too! They were grinning from ear to ear while I read it to them.
The Listener, 50 Best Kids’ Books of 2020 –
One of the most original and appealing picture books we’ve come across
Kids’ Book Review –
I love how the story shows Olga’s situation in a simple, non-judgemental way … The painted illustrations show an abundance of character, motion and moment while the hand-written text, colour palette and scene compositions deliver an intriguing style. The cover features a kiosk window cut-out. When you open the book, you see the inside of the kiosk, it’s a cute and unique feature. My kids love to pop their faces behind the cut-out and pretend to sell magazines and drinks, just like Olga.
Red Reading Hub –
Yes it’s hard sometimes to make changes, but sometimes it’s good to step right out of your comfort zone and just to “go with the flow” seeing what life brings and embracing new things with an open heart. It’s never impossible if you really want to find a way … That’s what Anete Melece shows us with humour and heart.
The New York Times –
The most captivating and original book here, and my favorite, is the Latvian artist Anete Melece’s THE KIOSK…The pictures of Olga are wonderfully inventive and strange, done in bright colors reminiscent of Matisse paintings. A parable for our time, “The Kiosk” is about escaping a confining routine and finding something better, about being “stuck,” as Melece herself has described it, and figuring out a way to “start a journey to your happy place exactly as you are.”
Let’s Talk Picture Books –
a visual and tactile delight