Jekh, duj, trin! (One, Two, Three!)

Vaneska is an ordinary Romani girl who is soon starting school. But before September 1st, she will experience many things, both everyday and special. She is happy to tell us about them – she takes us to her home, to a Romani christening, but also to her school enrolment, to the swimming pool with her grandmother, and to the Christmas Eve table.

This large-format, fold-out book with epic illustrations by Matej Ilčík offers much more – the story and illustrations with many humorous details are accompanied by varied tasks, supplemented by poems, songs, and riddles, and almost always presented in both Czech and Romani. They inspire curious questions and the search for answers, repeated viewing, discovery, and above all, conversation. In short, they encourage future first graders to learn what they need to know for school and life.

According to experts involved in schooling and afterschool activities,the book is a suitable tool for conveying socio-cultural and linguistic context to pupils of diverse backgrounds. However, they also find it to be an ideal and universal aid for developing vocabulary, logical and contextual thinking, graphomotor skills, and cognitive and executive functions. Teachers of Romani students appreciate the way the book helps children understand themselves, inspire pride in their Romani heritage, and thus promote personal integrity in life.

This book is published with the kind financial support of the OSF Foundation, the Albatros Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, Inc., and thanks to donations on the darujme.cz donation platform. Thank you!