Personifikovanie smrti v obrázkovej knižke ako kultúrna metafora
Personification of death in a picture book as cultural metaphor

Summary/Abstract: Picture books for children have recently experienced a sharp increase of their number in bookstores. This is a specific type of literature that targets very young (pre)readers which closely connects two forms of language, viz. literary and visual. This paper is a close analysis of the picture book titled Návštěva malé smrti (The Visit from Little Death) written by author and illustrator Kitty Crowther from Belgium. In particular, the paper zooms in on the unusual portrayal of the main character Little Death. As a result of this, Crowther’s picture book carries connotations that lend themselves to specific culturally determined symbolic interpretations (associated with dying and death). In addition, the connotations are presented as a narrative story intertwined with text and illustration. An understanding of connotational overtones facilitates very young readers to better adapt to and accept the culture into which they were born and in which they will be growing up, searching for their own life fulfilment.

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