About the book

	Lucie Seifertová The fold-out book ‘Mysterious Ostrava’ The fold-out book ‘Mysterious Ostrava’ is the first children’s book about the history of Ostrava. It offers young readers a fun and entertaining introduction to the city’s history from prehistoric times to the 20th century. The book contains 3-D pictures with central illustrations accompanied by short texts presenting the history and legends of Ostrava in a light-hearted way. Each text is accompanied by characters providing a humorous commentary on the individual topics.
	Synopsis of the book The first picture brings us back to prehistoric times. Together with a giant dragonfly, we hear an explanation about the origin of coal. It is also here that we catch up with mammoth hunters, who are just working out their problems with the creation of the Petřkovice Venus and also with the excessive glow of an unfamiliar rock. Upon turning the page we immediately find ourselves on Ostrava’s main square. There was once a settlement here and merchants passed this way, sometimes going through unscathed and other times leaving impoverished. And then the settlement grew into a small town … On later pages we find ourselves underground. In the middle of the 18th century coal was found in this region, but from the very beginning it presented nothing but difficulties, and it was a long time before a use was found for it. Finally it was discovered by some bold and enterprising people, and thus in the fourth picture we can already see the slender smokestacks of the future Vítkovice Ironworks. In the fifth picture there is a winding tower – one of the symbols of Ostrava. For it was the mining of coal that triggered the city’s unprecedented development and growth. The last page is dominated by the new City Hall, which was built in the period when Ostrava was known throughout the world.
	A giant version of the book was exhibited in the foyer of Pavilion A at the Černá Louka Exhibition Centre from 18.9. to 25.10.2009. It is 2.15 metres high and 10.5 metres long. Visitors to the exhibition could actually step inside the giant book and take a tour through individual periods of history. At the end of the exhibition the panels with the giant version continue to be used as presentation materials by the city of Ostrava. After the end of the exhibition the city of Ostrava will continue to use the giant version of the book as presentation material.
	Lucie Seifertová is a widely acclaimed Czech illustrator of children’s books and has extensive experience of illustrating books on historical topics. After graduating from the Hollar Middle Vocational School of Arts, she studied painting with Prof. Sopko at the Academy of Fine Arts (AVU) in Prague. She has worked as art editor for various magazines (Dikobraz, To jsem Já, Ohníček), and has written and illustrated a series of fold-out books: Mysterious Prague, Mysterious Castles and Chateaux of Bohemia, Prague Castle and its Secrets, The History of the Brave Czech Nation, Mysterious Golem, and Mysterious Ostrava. She was awarded the prestigious Magnesia Litera prize for the best children’s book of 2003, and also received the Golden Ribbon for the best popular educational book for young people of 2003. She is the illustrator for the children’s website of Czech Public Radio. She is currently collaborating with her husband Petr Prchal and the director Pavel Koutský on a 100-part animated series for Czech Television based on her fold-out book The History of the Brave Czech Nation. A giant version of this book has been exhibited to wide acclaim in Luxembourg, Bologna, Frankfurt and Bratislava, and is currently on tour in the USA.