– The Swedes have Astrid Lindgren, the Finns Tove Jansson, and the Poles have Wanda Chotomska. We really have not come off badly! – says Grzegorz Kasdepke. This apt observation will be expanded upon during a meeting with readers by Barbara Gawryluk, author of the first biography of the “Queen of Polish Literature for the Youngest,” published at the end of September this year.
Miejska Biblioteka Publiczna warmly invites admirers of Wanda Chotomska’s work on Monday, November 14 to Galeria Format (8 Sądowa Street). It starts at 5:00 p.m.. Admission is free.
And there will be plenty to remember … “Świerszczyk,” “Świat Młodych,” and the youthful poems written together with Miron Białoszewski. Older readers will surely remember the bedtime television series “Jacek i Agatka.” Jan Brzechwa, an admirer of Mrs. Wanda’s talent, was a guest on one of its episodes. Jacek and Agatka became a distinctive brand: soaps, shampoos, and stuffed toys appeared (copyright was not yet an issue then, so the program’s creators did not become wealthy; Wanda Chotomska still has a small apartment on the 11th floor of a high-rise on Warsaw’s Tamka Street). The writer (which not everyone may know anymore) was the inspiration behind the creation of a special distinction awarded by children – the Order of the Smile. She was also responsible for establishing Grandparents’ Day.
Music, singing, and dancing: the Gawęda ensemble, collaboration with Włodzimierz Korcz and Witold Gruca. She successfully wrote song lyrics that were so melodic everyone hummed them (“Gramy w kolory”). More than thirty places bear Her Name – including kindergartens, schools, and libraries. For example, in Płock there is a children’s library called “Chotomek” – “Chotomek’s Little House.” This is only a small sample of the information collected in the book.
Wanda Chotomska is the author of more than two hundred books, thousands of poems, hundreds of songs, plays, and radio dramas. The writer was honored with the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture Gloria Artis (2005) and the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta “for outstanding services to Polish culture, achievements in literary creation, and social activities for children and young people” (2013).
She traveled many thousands of kilometers to visit her readers in Poland and abroad. Held in great esteem, she enjoys enormous popularity and wins the hearts of younger and older people alike in an instant. She is a master of rhyming, storytelling, entertaining, and rapping. Almost one hundred children from Bolesławiec who attended a meeting at the Library in 2008 were fortunate enough to find this out, meet her in person, talk with her, and receive a unique dedication in a book. Now Mrs. Wanda no longer travels to meetings; doctors have ordered her, as she puts it, to lead a sedentary life… – What a shame – say the meeting’s organizers. They add: – All the more reason why recalling memories of childhood, her wartime youth, the People’s Republic of Poland, and the period up to the present day with Barbara Gawryluk will surely prove to be an interesting event.
Barbara Gawryluk – a journalist at Radio Kraków, translator of several dozen titles of Swedish children’s and young-adult literature, and author of more than twenty books for children. Winner of the IBBY award (the International Board on Books for Young People) for promoting reading. In private – a mother of two children… Jacek and Agatka.
– We would like to remind you about the competition with prizes! Anyone who brings to the meeting a book with a dedication from Mrs. Wanda has a chance to win a copy of her biography – the meeting’s organizers add.