There has been a relatively small number of picture books without text published in Slovenia (the Slovenian pioneer library - Pionirska knjižnica - notes only 17). This diploma thesis will therefore focus on three original Slovenian picture books without text. The first picture book was created by the illustrator and caricaturist Mar(i)jan Amalietti entitled Maruška Potepuška (1977; Maruška's Adventures). The second book is entitled Deček in hiša (2014; A Boy and a House), which received the Slovenian children's book award Zlata hruška (The Golden Pear) in 2016 and is the first original work created by the painter and illustrator Maja Kastelic. The third picture book without text is the work of a painter and illustrator Damijan Stepančič entitled Zgodba o sidru (2010; The Story of the Anchor), which received the Zlata hruška award in 2011. The theoretical part of this thesis will consist of a detailed analysis of these works by using the research methodology described by M. Nikolajeva and C. Scott in the book How picture books work (2006). The aim is to understand the books on every contextual and official level before conducting the analysis. The thesis will also include my personal interpretation and an interview with Maja Kastelic and Damijan Stepančič. With their help and based on the theory on picture books by S. L. Beckett (2013), which helped me discover quite a few parallels with picture books published abroad (especially those that depict a child's perception of the world through travels), an analysis of similarities and differences between these three Slovenian works and picture books published in Europe and abroad is conducted.
The theoretical description is followed by the research part of the diploma thesis, which includes individual interviews with five children about the three chosen works. The focus is on their individual interpretation and description of the illustrations. At the same time, I was analysing if “open” reading of these works can encourage creativity and help develop a child’s imagination. Based on these discoveries, the thesis will be concluded with a critical reflection on the problem of a creative child, which was previously described by Levi-Strauss in the book The View from Afar (1985).
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