Martina Skala´´ s Artistic Work in the Context of Intentional Literature

Abstract

In this article we focus on the artistic work of Martina Skala, a Czech writer living in the United States. We have analysed all of her intentional works published in the Czech Republic: the series of stories about Strado and Varius (2002; 2003; 2004; 2005; 2010), the publication of Medvídek Kuma: An Extraordinary Journey to the North Pole (2009), the book My name is Čičák (2019), and a story called The Way of the Wacky Hen in Search of Happiness (2020). We also focused on publications that Skala has only illustrated. The intention of this paper is to fill a void in the critical reflection on Martina Skala´s work for children, and thus stimulate further discussion about her potential contribution to the development of contemporary literature for children and young people. We believe that the didactic potential of the analysed works is considerable, both in all aspects related to the consolidation of reading skills in beginning readers, but also in those associated with the beginnings of children’s reading (for example, building a relationship with books in prereaders).