Ignė Zarambaitė, Lina Kusaitė. Užkampynė (Cornerland), Vilnius: Alma littera, 2023. – 24 p. 

After a row with his mother, Elijus hides under the bed. While he’s lying there, he unexpectedly sees a secret door to Cornerland – a world which he can control with his imagination. It’s a delightful place and he would like to stay there forever. But suddenly, a storm arises. Elijus is unable to return to the real world. Now the only person who can save him is his mother. Of course, she finds Elijus. They make up. His mother explains that it’s perfectly normal to want to be alone sometimes. She herself has Cloudland – her own secret world. The book teaches us that, when emotions are stirred, there’s no need to fight. We can step back for a while, sit with our feelings, and understand and accept them.

Ignė Zarambaitė (b. 1988) is an active writer and educator. After graduating in business and management from Vilnius University, she took an unexpected turn and started writing books for young readers, which led to her becoming a successful author with a number of awards to her name. Her books for children and young adults have been translated into other languages and gained a wide readership. She openly admits that her own childhood is one of her sources of inspiration. For instance, when she was little, she liked to hide in… a dog’s kennel. And so the characters of Cornerland have their own secret places where they can be alone.

Lina Kusaitė (b. 1975) is a graduate of costume and textile design programmes in Vilnius, Utrecht and Paris, and works as a designer and illustrator. Her pastel-coloured drawings rendered in graphic quill and pencil seem to extend far beyond the boundaries of the book itself, lending the publication its decorative and meditative mood.
Illustrator’s portfolio: https://www.behance.net/cocooncharacters

Contact for rights: D.Sinkeviciute@almalittera.lt