Ludwik Jerzy Kern
FERDYNAND THE MAGNIFICENT
FERDYNAND WSPANIAŁY
Ferdynand the Magnificent (Ferdynand Wspaniały) — the story of Ferdinand, a dog endowed
with human features, is part of the canon of Polish childen’s literature. Irrespective of
changing times and fashions, it continues to win the hearts and minds of new readers.
The book has run into many editions, been translated into several languages and made into
a movie.
The author says that Ferdinand the Magnificent was inspired by his own exceptionally gifted
a dog, which even had a talent for acting and played in the theatre.
Kornel Makuszyński, Marian Walentynowicz
Przygody Koziołka Matołka
They all center around the quest that Matołek, an anthropomorphic goat, undertakes: to find Pacanów, a town where it is rumored they are making goatshoes. Matołek's adventures are amusing if sometimes surreal, and the titular hero is nice, naive, clumsy, laughable and not very bright - in many regards similar to another famous children stories character, Winnie the Pooh of A.A. Milne. His search for Pacanów will take him to various corners of the Earth, from Africa to the Wild West.
The story has visible patriotic undertones, from Matołek's colors (white fur and red shorts, evoking the flag of Poland) to his homesick feelings for Poland, which appear when he finds himself in one of the far-away places.
