He teaches classical guitar at a music school and writes completely non-pedagogical poems, stories and plays that outrage strict adults and are read to children. This year, Givargizov acted in a new capacity, becoming the compiler of the Motley Square book series. The series won the national competition “Book of the Year” in the nomination “Together with the book we grow”, and Zina Surova and Nadezhda Suvorova, who designed two books in the series, became winners of the competition of illustrators “The image of the book”.
Psychologies: How did you choose the authors for the new book series?
Artur Givargizov: I chose those who can tell a story in an original, but not artificial way. But their own originality is not an end in itself – they just are, they think and write that way. Or maybe another intonation arises as a rejection of the generally accepted intonation. Children are often spoken to as if they were kittens. And Yesenovsky, Georgiev, Degteva, Sobakin are good authors. Well, I’m not a beast either.
What do these books have in common?
A.G.: All five books in the series are picture books. This is an experiment, an attempt to combine text and illustration as much as possible. Sometimes teachers say that because of the pictures, children do not develop imagination. But then, to be consistent, and the text dulls the imagination. After all, he is also an interpretation of the surrounding world by the author-performer. In my opinion, on the contrary: the more different performances (as in music), the better the “listener’s” fantasy develops. The artist can “perform” the author. And that, on the contrary, discover the artist, “perform” him. Such discoveries, made by others, make the reader want to become a pioneer.”
Series “Motley Square”
- Artur Givargizov “Naughty Pirate”, ill. Maxim Pokalev;
- Sergei Georgiev “Sandwich Trainer”, ill. Ekaterina Silina;
- Valentina Degteva “Bagel for a humanoid”, ill. Nadezhda Suvorova;
- Mikhail Yesenovsky “The main espionage question”, ill. Natalia Korsunskaya;
- Tim Sobakin “From Correspondence with a Cow”, ill. Zina Surova.
Egmont