Verriickte Welt
By: Atak
Publisher: Jacoby Stuart, Germany, 2009 (Norsk tittel "Bakvendtland", Magikon, 2015)
Format: Hardback
A crazy, crazy world
"Verrickte Welt" means "Crazy world" in English. And Atak´s silent book really portrays a crazy world - everything is turned around, up-side down and the exact opposite of what you would expect. The cover shows a lion training a clown, and the first spread shows a mouse chasing three cats. The mouse stays with us, page after page, as we explore artic animals in the jungle, a rabbit shooting a hunter, firemen putting out water with fire... you get the idea.
According to Atak, the inspiration for this book were German 18th century "bilderbogen", one-page stories that are seen as the origin of comics. Atak´s illustrations are completely hand-made. They have a crazy feel to them, a surreal feast of color and playfullness.
This book has been a success and is translated to several different languages. In English, it is called "Topsy-turvy world", in Norwegian it is called "Bakvendtland" (literally "Backwards country"). I must admit I prefer the original title that has more of an edge to it, pointing not only to the reversing of roles in the illustrations but also to how crazy our world actually is. When turning things upside-down, Atak makes us think: About animal rights, welfare distribution, children´s rights... I think the original title reflects this side of the book better than the translated ones. The English and Norwegian titles are still fun though, and they refer to well-known expressions that will be familiar to potential book buyers.
Regardless of what title is on the cover, this is an enjoyable book. I always recommend it at silent book workshops, because some of the illustrations teaches us how little we actually pay attention to pictures. Like the picture of the firemen putting out water with fire. When I show people that spread (without showing the title of the book), it always takes a few seconds before they "get it". Our first instinct is always to see what we expect to see, our brain makes us see what we assume is correct.
"Verriickte Welt" is also, as mentioned, an excellent conversation starter with all age groups. Children love the pictures where children act as adults, and teenagers and adults often choose to reflect upon the illustrations on animal rights or welfare. Herein lies what is both the weakness and the strength of the book. It offers something to everybody: Animals, vehicles, fairy tale references, references to art and design, there is something for the animal activist,the envionmentalist, the comic book lover. But by offering something to everybody, the book as a whole might seem a little chaotic and messy. Then again, so is the world, so maybe Atak is making a point!
The small mouse from the first spread follows along through all the pages of the book. Children often notice this right away and have a lot of fun figuring out where he is going next and what he is up to. My favourite spread is the fairy-tale one, where (amongst other things) we see a wolf carrying a basket, walking peacefully with Red Riding Hood to a house. Inside the house we see a dead goad and seven wolf pups climbing out of it´s cut belly - both funny and grotesque at the same time.
"Verriickte Welt" is a very original picture book, a perfect gift for all lovers of illustrations no matter their age. It is a book where everyone can find at least one page or spread that they really love and that makes them laugh, reflect and tell stories about our crazy world.
NB! Boken er publisert på norsk med tittel "Bakvendtland" av Magikon forlag. Den er fremdeles i salg på det norske markedet.
