WAITING FOR CHRISTMAS vol.2
An Advent Story Calendar
one story a day from December 1st to 25th
by Annalena Valenti, with the collaboration of the MammaOca team
illustrations by kids of the Austrian school of Frank Cižek, 1922
- size: cm 21 x 30 / in. 8.27 x 11.69
- pages: 128 colour pages, endpapers included
- binding: thread-sewn, soft or hardbound
- cover: matt art paper, 4 colours, laminated, with flaps
- publication: Fall 2024
- series: Waiting for
Waiting for Christmas vol.2 is a collection of 25 Advent stories for adults and children by Annalena Valenti and her editorial team of MammaOca.
In this second Christmas book of the series Waiting for, the story of what human beings have always desired and sought is renewed. The longing for happiness that moulds our hearts and constantly makes us yearn for something beyond limits, something that goes ‘beyond’, often described as impossible, a senseless question not to be asked, becomes incarnate, possible, and near with the birth of Jesus: an extraordinary existence finds meaning and purpose. ‘The impossible exists, as long as Goodness is desired’ – say the voices of these stories, which aim to speak to our lives. Lambs and wolves, little girls and drummers, nightingales and roses, shepherds and kings: even Angels rent a house next to our homes.
Poems, carols, legends and stories from all over the world
In this Advent Story Calendar vol 2: Christmas legends by H.L. Chevrillon, G.M. Noventa – stories by A.M. Cànopi, F. Cavallari, C. Collodi, V. De Domenico, G. Deledda, G. Guareschi, A. Nanetti, R. Sawyer, M. Twain – poems by F. Chesterton, G. D’Annunzio, E. Dickinson, G. Gozzano, B. Pasternak – traditional Christmas carols by K.K. Davis, A.M. De Liguori, J.M. Neale, M. Praetorius – fairy tales by H.C. Andersen and… even a recipe!
Illustrations by Austrian kids from a unique educational experience
About Franz Cižek (1865-1944) a teacher an artist an educator “The most beautiful things in the creations of a child are his ‘mistakes’. The more a child’s work is full of specific, individual mistakes the more wonderful it becomes. And the more a teacher removes them from the child’s work the duller, more desolate and impersonal it becomes” (Frank Cižek).
These illustrations come from an extraordinary historical experience: they were depicted in 1922 in Wien by a team of kids and young teens, the oldest of 15 years old, belonging to the Children’s Drawing and Painting School founded by the Austrian painter of Czech origins, Franz Cižek (1865-1944).
You may call it a social experiment, even a leap in educational theories and methods: he is considered the father of creative teaching. Cižek preached freedom of expression and the release of the child’s natural powers in his child art classes. He created the idea that juvenile art was a distinctive branch of art making and not merely a step to creating adult art.
Cižek was a key member of the Wien Secession and worked closely with, inspired and impressed his other artist friends, including Gustav Klimt, Moser and Olbrich.
Waiting for Christmas 2. Advent Calendar or, as they wrote about the last book, the only Advent Calendar that talks about Advent. Twenty-five new stories not to forget, here and now, the Protagonist of the Feast.
A collection of author’s tales, poems, songs, fairy tales and legends from all over the world, to be read as a family, with children, one a day, from 1 to 25 December, in anticipation of Christmas. To be explored while being fascinated by the evocative illustrations full of detail by the students of the Vienna Children’s Drawing and Painting School of Franz Cižek.
