Eva Papoušková
Eva Papoušková (*1969 in Brno) majored in English at Masaryk University in Brno and later studied screenwriting and dramaturgy for film and television at FAMU in Prague. Since graduating, she has translated and written a number of children’s books. Her book Kosprd and Telecí won the Golden Ribbon and the SUK We All Read award. She has written screenplays for fairy tale adaptations, several successful TV series and feature films.
No School Today
June 2023, 118 pages
by Eva Papoušková (text), Galina Miklínová (illustrations)
Love and dreams are the most powerful things in the world
It’s the start of a new school year. Two girls named Eva share a desk in a school in the old town of Brno. The brunette loves Winnetou, the Apache chief, while the redhead adores Pippi Longstocking. And that’s what they call each other: Winnetou and Pippi. Their new nicknames bring a sense of adventure into the grey of their lives – it is the 1970s and the country is under strict totalitarian rule, in the process of normalisation. What people say behind closed doors can’t be repeated in school. Even their classmate and friend Karel, who is secretly in love with Pipi, knows this.
Meanwhile, the trio embarks on expeditions where honour and glory are at stake, saving Indians and horses. They create a newspaper called The Red Arrow, where they can be brutally honest. They fight a teacher on the verge of a nervous breakdown, their class teacher and the school caretaker. The three children suspect that love and dreams are the most powerful things in the world – qualities that persist even when oceans of distance separate people.