Leo Tolstoy, Hassan Zahreddine
Malashka and Akulka, two little girls, are playing together happily when they get into a disagreement… and before you know it, the entire village is involved in an imbroglio!
Little Girls Are Wiser Than Men is a book for all ages and times adapted from a poetic short story by one of the world’s greatest storytellers, Leo Tolstoy. This astute tale about conflict and resolution is illustrated with linocut art by Lebanese printmaker Hassan Zahreddine and printed on handmade paper, using a vintage 1965 Heidelberg letterpress.
Digital files of the text and art were used to create plates that relief-printed on to the surface of paper. This technique captures the spirit of the times that the story was set in while connecting it to the context in which this edition was created. It also makes for a unique reading and viewing experience: the words are deeply etched on the page, the colours are solidly on the surface, and the texture of the paper invites exploration.
Read a blog post by V Geetha and Sanjana Vamadevan – Letterpress Prints: The Making of Little Girls Are Wiser Than Men – exploring the possibilities and constraints of the classic letterpress printmaking technique.
$ 22.95
In stock
| Weight | 250.0 g |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 190 × 145 × 13 mm |
| ISBN | 978-93-90037-00-1 |
| Printing | Letterpress-printed |
| Paper | 200 gsm – handmade from recycled cotton waste |
| Binding | Hardcover |
| Pages | 48 |
| Edition | Limited edition of 2000 |
Born in 1969, Hassan Zahreddine studied Fine Arts and Printmaking in Lebanon and Canada. He is also a children’s book illustrator and currently teaches at the American University in Beirut. This is his first Tara book.
Before Leo Tolstoy was a celebrated writer, he was a student who struggled through his university days with his teachers dismissing him as “unable and unwilling to learn.” Later, he came to believe that children would learn when they were given the freedom to make their own decisions. He also felt that adults could learn from children just as much as they could teach them. It was with this thought in mind that he wrote a series of fables that took inspiration from the actions of children.
Sanjana Vamadevan is a visual communication designer from Chennai. She studied graphic design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Illustrating, experimenting with analog printing techniques and hand lettering are some of the things she’s passionate about.
Click here to discover her other Tara Books.
