Malá Strana is nowadays still an attractive destination for foreign tourists and still also for locals. However, we all feel that a certain charm is being lost in exchange for economic profit, which the Ministry of Culture and the Prague 1 municipality are trying to balance in various ways. One of these ways is the book Malostranské Century by Jana Vopatová and illustrator Štěpán Danč. The author skillfully combines a kind of literature for the little ones, but intersperses it with interesting historical realities that will interest parents of children. Vopatová manages to casually incorporate some of the facts into the story, i.e. the "children's" part of the book. But she is not always so successful. In some passages, it is impossible to resist the feeling that the pressure from the sponsor, i.e. the municipality, is too great for the author not to mention the names of specific businesses and shops.
Some of the adventures or thought processes of the protagonist, a little girl named Century, seem similarly inauthentic at times. Overall, though, the book manages to unusually connect the world of adults and little ones within one old Prague neighborhood. The strongest link is the character of Kabourek the waterman, sitting at the mill wheel near Lennon's wall.
If we add to this the watercolour illustrations by the esteemed Štěpán Danč, we get a rather distinctive book of children's literature that will have its place not only among the inhabitants and lovers of the Lesser Town, but also among those who are still building their relationship with this district.
Matyáš Müller
VOPATOVÁ, Jana. Malostranské století. Praha: Meander, 2016.
The review was created at the Department of Journalism of FSV UK under the supervision of PhDr. Jana Čeňková, Ph.D.