Cover illustration for One, Five, Many

The numerous picture books of Kvĕta Pacovská, who won the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1992, are characterized by vivid colors and a modern sense of design; they break free from the conventional picture book mold. The artist’s works are brimming with unexpected ideas. One, Five, Many is a book about numbers with pages featuring pop-up elements, doors, holes and other fun things to play with. Numbers are freely included in the pictures, making us realize not only their symbolic function, but also their interesting shapes. Pacovsk? says, “In alphabets and numbers, there is a beauty which has survived over several thousand years of cultural history.”