Horace

by Austin Washington, American author, historian, film director, and international thought leader.

 

Illustrations : Maria Burganova, artist, sculptor, professor of Stroganov Moscow State University of Arts.

 

Horace is an adventure story coupled with a proverb, told in perfectly metered verse aimed at the wisest child or most innocent grownup. Imaginative, colorful narration raises the reader to the mythical land where Horace's adventure begins. Yet it never truly ends, as Horace can be re-read at any age without ever fully revealing the deepest truths of this multifaceted tale.

 

Maria Burganova’s illustrations evoke the imaginative outlook of the most innocent kind of soul, putting them in a different universe from the simulacrum kiddie-worlds peddled by "children's illustrators" who have forgotten the magic that children-at-heart will always know.

 

Through a combination of finely wrought English verse and rarefied illustrations, Horace is not just a children's book, nor a mere work of art.

 

Horace is a transformative tale for our times.

 

Horace would likely stand on a shelf between a collector’s works of literature and art, perhaps propped against a wall near the nursery. Beyond this, Horace is as an ideal example of international cultural cooperation, while sanctifying an almost unique pairing – the greatest wisdom alongside the greatest innocence, leavened with a few feathers-worth of humour.