Vykutálený pohádky – Náhlovský Josef Alois (2017)

Entertainer, comedian, and occasional actor Josef Náhlovský has been active on the Czech scene for decades, so it's hard to find anyone who doesn't know his distinctive, somewhat quirky humor. Perhaps that's why it comes as a surprise that he has decided to step into the realm of something so intimate and ethereal as fairy tales. Some might even call it sacrilege. But in this case, that certainly doesn't apply. This new book by the former Czech language teacher is full of captivating storytelling and seems to pay tribute to the personalities of the Czech fairy tale pantheon – Erben's dramatic plotlines, the roots of Czech fairy tale beings from B. Němcová, Nepil's dreamlike fantasy, and charming wordplay with seemingly ordinary words. The heroes of Náhlovský's fairy tales, with their adorable and cuddly names (Žabžulenka, Omydlík, Myšulátko, or Plamínek), tell stories about what happens in a hellish school, what goes on at the bottom of a small forest pond, how the lazy daughters of an old baker were punished, and bring a number of other stories that expand children's imagination and creativity, which is something our little ones rarely encounter to their detriment while staring at their tablet screens. At a time when violence and brutality unfortunately flood children from TV screens daily, this is an endeavor...